I'm Not A Hero
by SapphireGirl93
Summary: Pre-Movie. Was there a possible glimpse at Megamind's true destiny during his days of villainy, when Roxanne finds herself in a sticky situation and there's no one else to help her?
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here I am again, starting another new story before I finish up my other multi-chapter, Dangerous Secret. I didn't think I'd do another multi-chapter until I finished Secret... but you know how it goes. Those little ideas get in there and take root, and before you know it they're screaming to get out! I just couldn't leave it alone anymore!**

**This story is pre-movie, set not long before the actual time frame in which the movie starts. I've tried to tie everything in nicely to the canon of the movie here. If you've ever read the comic book prequel to Megamind, I suppose you could say that this is kind of like _my_ version of a prequel to the prequel. LOL!**

**A special thank you to my lovely friend Nora Salisbury, who is acting as my beta for this story, and for being awesome in general. Also, a special thank you to my very sweet friend Hunger4Righteousness, just for being wonderful in every way. Love you both! :)**

**Thanks for reading, you wonderful Megamind fans, you! Hope you enjoy it!**

**P.S... I don't own Megamind or any of the characters. I profit nothing from my stories, other than a chance to enjoy writing, and sharing my love for this movie with the other die hard, crazy Mega-fans out there.**

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><p>It had been almost two weeks since Metro Man left town, and Megamind was bored. He sat dejectedly in his favorite chair with his big head propped on his fist, thinking.<p>

The gigantic, muscle clad mountain of a man had arranged to meet his foe one afternoon to inform the villain that he was going away for an extended, and much needed vacation with his adopted parents to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

Being the most ridiculously wealthy family in Metro City, the Scotts spared no expense and opted for a leisurely European vacation; complete with a leased house on the Mediterranean, a yacht in which to cruise the blue waters, lavish parties to attend, and wads of cash to spend at the drop of a hat.

When Megamind first found out that Metro Man planned on leaving town for a whole month, he was elated. Just _imagining_ all the mayhem he could create in that span of time made the blue bad boy positively giddy with excitement, not to mention the delightful prospect of ruining the hero's holiday by forcing him back with yet another wicked scheme.

But his anticipation of the free for all he was about to experience was quickly dashed away from him when Mr. Goody Two Shoes informed him, in no uncertain terms, that there was _no way _he would cut his vacation short. If Megamind planned on executing a fantastically maniacal plan, he was going to have to do it all by himself, because there would be no beefy champion to show up and rescue the damsel or play the game this time.

The realization that his opponent just didn't want to play instantly took all the fun out of it, so Megamind reluctantly agreed to hold off his plans until Metro Man's return.

With a condescending sneer, he had circled the man in white as they stood in the center of the "lair", which was nothing more than the _real_ abandoned observatory. Megamind had used this place more than once as the backdrop for his mind boggling schemes, and for all Metro Man knew, it was the villain's true hide out.

"Skipping town in an attempt to avoid my _fearsome_ wrath is a step beneath the behavior I would expect of you, Metro Mahn. I must admit, I'm truly disappointed to see my esteemed adversary exhibiting his weaknesses in such a blatant way."

"This has nothing to do with skipping town, and everything to do with my parent's anniversary. They've been planning this trip for over a year, and I'm not going to miss it. End of story."

Megamind stopped short and spun to face his rival as his cape swirled around him fluidly. He worked up his best arrogant smirk, pointed his leather clad finger, and with raised brow responded, "Ah, NOT end of story, this is only the beginning! Regardless of whether or not you choose to turn tail and run like a timid rabbit, e-vil never rests… never runs… never hides. While you're off enjoying your little howliday… "

"Holiday." corrected the hero.

"That's what I said! Howliday. While you're off enjoying yourself and shirking your responsibilities, the future dreadful Overlord of Metrocity will be creating a plan so maniacal, the soft headed slaves of my impending empire will suffer nightmares for _generations_ to come. The hour of your return will be marked the hour of your doom, Metro Mahn."

As the blue devil monologued, Metro Man watched him with a blasé expression. He had battled against this wily character for so many years, he knew his predictable routine like the back of his hand.

Right now he was about to move into the "guilt trip" portion of his speech, where he would typically appeal to his compassion for the random citizens in an attempt to entice him to go above and beyond in the struggle of _good verses e-vil_. He usually pulled that one out when he felt that Metro Man just wasn't putting his heart into the game, which seemed to be happening more often than not lately.

At one time, the champion would have grabbed at the bait without a second thought, but at the moment his mind was already more than half way on vacation. Nothing that this little blue twerp could say to him would get him to change his mind.

"It saddens my black heart to know that the protector of this city would be so callous as to turn from it's citizens… "

"Yeah, yeah I know… "_In their hour of need_"." he mimicked dramatically. "It's not going to work, Megamind. I'm going on this trip, and I'll see you in a month." With that, he turned and gathered himself up to take flight.

Megamind's smirk fell, and he assumed a sulky pout. The villain's shoulders slumped and his arms fell loosely at his sides, and he asked, "So, this isn't a joke; you're really going to go?"

"Yep, I'm really going to go," answered Metro Man without a backward glance.

"And you're not cutting it short? What if I decide to dangle Miss Ritchi precariously above a boiling vat of acid on a fraying rope?" _Hmmm, that's actually a good idea. Note to self, formulate a plan that includes boiling acid._

"I think that Metro City's finest will be able to handle it just fine."

Megamind looked slightly perplexed. _Well, that's an odd response_. _I'd expect he'd be here in a flash to rescue his Lady Fair._ But his sharp mind was running at full speed, and in moments he had already moved on to respond to the blatant brush off. He frowned and said, "Metrocity's finest? They're _simpletons_, pathetic morons. And they're no fun!"

"Then just hold off until I get back."

"Well then, what am _I _supposed to do for a whole month?"

"How would I know? Just… do what you already said you were going to do. Dream up some evil contraption to annihilate me the moment I set foot on the streets of Metro City again."

Megamind looked incredibly disappointed, but he crossed his arms and snapped, "Fine! You know, I almost feel sorry for you. The chances of your survival are slim to none when you return, Metro Mahn."

"Uhuh, ok little buddy… "

"DON'T call me that!"

Metro Man turned to his long time adversary, and said with a grin, "No worries old friend. I'll be back to pick up right where we left off. In the meantime, you should enjoy the time off. You could probably use a vacation yourself."

"No, as a matter of fact I _don't _need a vie-cayshun. E-vil never rests."

"I know, you already said that. See you in a month!"

In an instant, the dashing hero with the perfect hair was gone, leaving the shocked villain standing slightly slack jawed in his wake.

Minion, who had been standing back observing the surprising turn of events, clunked up behind his friend. "Well, I didn't see _that_ coming."

"I know! Can you believe the irresponsibility? He has a duty to perform, and he's shirking it to idle his time away for the sake of a whirlwind trip."

"Sir, I don't think you can really consider this a whirlwind trip. You heard him; it's been planned for a year for his parents' anniversary. And besides, I've been noticing Metro Man hasn't really been on his game lately. I think the time away will do him good. He'll be a much more challenging adversary for you when he gets back."

Megamind looked at the fish with an exasperated expression. "Well he'd better be! The invulnerable Defender of Metrocity needs a vie-cayshun? Ridiculous! You know, he just doesn't seem to be taking this seriously."

He stood brooding, but as he did, his bright green eyes began to take on a crafty gleam, and his blue lips cracked into a wicked smirk. He tented his long fingers, and began pacing the floor of the observatory. When Minion saw this, he nervously began to wonder what shenanigans his boss was currently cooking up in that enormous brain of his. _Oh boy, here we go._

"Which isn't exactly a bad thing. We can use his lack of concentration to our advantage_. Minion! _We are going to devise the most cunning, devious, terrifying plan the world has ever seen, and Metro Mahn will _rue_ the day he ever let his guard down!"

Before he had finished his oath of destruction for his arch nemesis, he had already turned on his heel with a swish of his cape. He strode resolutely, with Minion following behind, toward the lift that would bring them down to the invisible car where it waited to take the duo back to their real lair, so they could begin to plan their e-vil plan of action.

Within days of Metro Man's announcement to his rival that he was heading out of town, he was gone. Before he left, he met with key city officials, as well as the MCPD, to inform them of his plans.

It was decided that it would be in the city's best interest to keep his departure quiet, for fear that a crime spree would soon erupt if the bad guys in town knew that there was no hero around to keep things in check.

Of course, also on his list of people to inform of his plan to leave town was Roxanne, who didn't seem to be concerned in the least, much to the hero's disappointment.

As a matter of fact, once she found out that Megamind had agreed to hold off on any kidnappings or evil plans until he returned, she was actually looking forward to the peace and quiet that she would no doubt finally get. After all, it had been ten years, without a break no less, of being recruited bi weekly against her will to "assist" the brainy alien in the "cause for evil."

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><p>Nearly two whole weeks after Metro Man's departure, Megamind was <em>so<em> bored he had even begun to lose interest in his grand and glorious scheme, his opus, the plan that would live on in infamy.

As he sat with his oversized head propped in his hand, he sighed deeply. He had come to his lab earlier that morning to once again tackle his list of ideas with Minion. They had a nice grouping of concepts and designs laid out, but he just couldn't decide on which one to pick. For this plan, he needed something that was strong and terrifying, but elegant and refined. Something that bespoke Megamind, in all his perfection.

The longer they had been at it, the more frustrated the blue alien became. From there he proceeded to become increasingly cranky, until finally, Minion just couldn't take it anymore. He stomped off in a huff, his enormous simian feet clunking loudly across the concrete floor, to leave the grumpy villain to stew all by himself.

Part of Megamind's frustration was his continuing surprise at Metro Man's decision to just up and leave for an entire month. But even more surprising to him was the fact that rather than missing the glorious battles and witty banter with his opponent, he found himself missing the company of the sassy and acerbic Miss Ritchi, who was so essential to the execution of all his plans.

Yes, even though she was the most nosy, aggravating, and sarcastic person he had ever known, she was also smart, and kind, and beautiful. Including her in his schemes was the best idea he had ever had, and more than anything else, he looked forward each time to seeing… _Quit that! True villains _never_ have a soft spot for their captives. They're cold and heartless, and I just happen to be the most vile villain the world has ever seen!_

Megamind heaved another forlorn sigh. Oh, who was he fooling? He plopped his forehead down on the console of his computer monitors with a thunk. The last couple of weeks had been awful, and the next two were going to be torture without being able to pick a fight with Metro Man, but especially without hearing Roxanne's snarky comments, or looking into those impossibly blue eyes.

Despite himself, he began thinking of possible ways he could arrange things so he could see her without actually kidnapping her, even if only for a few minutes. Abducting her would be a huge tip off that he had more in mind than just the usual call out for his foe, seeing as how the empty headed hero wouldn't be showing up.

He did have his Holo-watch, but… no. She was so smart, it was a pretty good chance she'd see through the charade; the only way she'd miss that trick would be if she was already too distracted to notice, or, and this was far less likely, if she actually had feelings for him, and those hidden feelings lead her to possibly… _Stop it! Why are you doing this to yourself?_

He decided it would be best to shut down that line of thinking right now, before it got him into trouble, so he sat up in an attempt at new enthusiasm, and crossed his lab to the work table. He slid the list of possible devises of destruction to him and began to pour over it with gusto. Hmmm, which one to pick? They were all so fabulous, if he did say so himself. Maybe the satellite? The one that harnesses the full, concentrated power of the sun?

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><p>Several days later, Roxanne stood in line at Metro Savings and Loan, texting a friend to solidify her plans for the evening. She was meeting a friend from high school whom she had kept in touch with over the years for dinner and possibly a movie. But before she headed off for her fun evening, she needed to make a deposit, and take out a little cash. And she was running a bit late.<p>

Being the busy career woman that she was, as well as being the victim of choice for one villainous blue alien, she rarely had time for such excursions. The idea of a night out with a friend to just kick back and enjoy herself, without taking the risk of making her friends uncomfortable due to her frequent abductions, was almost unknown to her. She had been looking forward to an evening with her old friend immensely all week long, and could hardly wait to get started.

Wrapping up her text, she stood a little impatiently, waiting for her turn at the window. With nothing else to do as she stood there, her mind began to wander, and she found herself thinking about Wayne, and his sudden announcement that he was leaving for a month.

Over the past couple of weeks, she had begun to feel incredibly irritated with him for skipping town like this. She understood that being his parent's anniversary, it _was_ a special occasion. And of course, even the hero deserved some time off. Now that she thought about it, he _had_ seemed a bit of out of it lately. She wanted to cut him a break, but really? A whole month?

She couldn't help but feel that leaving for such an extended period of time was very irresponsible of him. There was a whole city full of people who depended on him, and yet he had made it quite clear that he wasn't coming back, no matter what, until he was good and ready.

But as much as she hated to admit it, there was another reason for her irritation. Though at first she was delighted at the prospect of some much needed time off from all those silly battles that she was always forced to participate in, she quickly began to understand how _bored_ she was going to be.

She hadn't realized just how much she enjoyed watching those two big kids play their silly game, squabbling like children on the playground. Not to mention that her little part to play was at times immensely enjoyable. Those little sessions of witty banter with her captor was really just too much fun.

Kidnappings had become such a big part of her life, she was shocked to find that she had actually missed it that first week when Minion hadn't shown up apologetically with knock out spray and smelly bag in hand, ready for another round of villain versus hero.

She had begun to watch the clock by mid afternoon that day, thinking that maybe, _just maybe_, he might show up after all. By the time bedtime rolled around and there was still no sign of the funny little fish, she was disappointed, and actually went to bed feeling a little put out.

Things hadn't improved over the following week when she found herself looking at her calendar, mentally checking off the days until Wayne's return. _Two weeks down, two more weeks to go_. And these were going to be a very long two weeks, if the last two were any indication of how things were going to go.

Not that she really missed Wayne; he was a nice guy and had always been there for her when she needed him, but he was rather shallow and empty headed. No, she was starting to realize that, despite all her attempts at denying it, she actually kind of missed Megamind.

Over the past several days, she had found her mind straying toward him. Distracting little images of him kept popping unbidden into her mind. Things like the adorable way he excitedly bit his lip while he prepared for his newest plan; and of course, that manic grin he was _so_ good at. Oh, and that wickedly evil thing he did with that one eyebrow…

Roxanne was interrupted from her thoughts as the teller at the window finally informed her that it was her turn. Although no one could possibly know what she had been thinking, she felt strangely sheepish that thoughts like that had even dared to appear in her head to begin with. _I hope I'm not blushing! _

As she rummaged through her purse to pull out her check and deposit slip, she noticed out of the corner of her eye a man in the line next to hers. He seemed… off, somehow. She got the impression that he was slightly nervous, and his eyes seemed a bit shifty as he glanced around. _Well, he's probably late for something. I don't blame him for being impatient with a line like this!_

Walking up to the teller, she smiled congenially, and handing the girl her documents she began the usual round of friendly small talk.

"Welcome to Metro… wait, you're Roxanne Ritchie!"

_Oh, here we go_. "Yep, that's me." she responded with another friendly smile.

"Wow! I can't believe it! It's so nice to meet you." gushed the excited teller.

"Oh, thank you…. What was your name?"

The young and slightly flighty teller responded, "I'm Tiffany. I love your work, Miss Ritchie. I watch you all the time… I'm a big fan."

Although flattered, Roxanne heard this often. She wished that maybe, just once, she could run an errand without someone recognizing who she was, and fawning all over her.

"Well thank you, Tiffany. You know, I'm sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I'm supposed to be meeting someone… "

At the mention of Metro City's top reporter _meeting someone_, Tiffany's eyes lit up. "Oh, are you going out with Metro Man tonight?"

It took an amazing amount of self control for Roxanne to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "No, just meeting an old friend from school. Could we…. ?"

The young teller blushed slightly, and answered. "Oh, sorry! Sure. I'll get you taken care of and out the door right away."

As Tiffany worked the transaction, she continued to prattle on. She was so nosy and filled with questions, Roxanne found herself thinking for a moment, "_She'd make a good reporter_."

"So, things have been pretty quiet around here lately. Some of the people we get in here are a bit nervous about what Megamind is cooking up, but I'm really enjoying the peace and quiet. What about you, what do you think?"

_Quiet? Yeah, way too quiet. I wish Wayne would hurry up and get back so we can get on with things._

Roxanne had to remind herself that Wayne's trip was supposed to be hush hush, so she simply responded, "Hmm, I don't know. He can be unpredictable at times, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see." _Unpredictable? Where did that come from?_

Tiffany continued to chit chat with her as she wrapped up her transaction, despite the fact that Roxanne was continuously checking her watch in plain sight of the talkative teller. Finally, she handed Roxanne her receipt, and cheerfully bid the pretty reporter a good evening.

As Roxanne turned and walked toward the door, thankful to finally be on her way, she was suddenly startled by a gasp coming from a woman standing next to her. Instantly, several more arose from the bank patrons, as well as a few panicked screams.

She spun around in time to see the same man that had caught her attention moments earlier, holding a gun in his hand, and waving it around erratically.

"Everyone down!" he shouted, and everyone in the bank dropped to the floor in an instant, including Roxanne. Luckily, the particular spot in which she happened to be positioned was next to a half wall, positioned at an angle which hid her from the view of the thief.

Although her heart pounded furiously, her unquenchable curiosity got the better of her, and she slipped quietly forward to peek around the edge of the wall so she could observe the goings on. From opposite corners of the building, she watched as two more men stepped forward. She hadn't seen them earlier, and assumed they must have been tucked away somewhere, biding their time and waiting for their cue to come out of hiding and participate in the heist.

These two were just as shady looking as the first. They pulled out guns of their own and stepped to the middle of the room, pointing them at anyone and everyone in the bank. Immediately, they began echoing the sentiments of their counterpart, "Everyone down! Don't even _think_ about moving, or I'll blow your head off."

Roxanne pulled herself back and leaned against the half wall as she sat on the floor, breathing deeply to stay calm so she could think clearly. She closed her eyes tightly, and as she did, two thoughts popped into her head simultaneously. _Well, there goes my evening out with Kerrie_, and _Erghhhh, Wayne! You have the WORST timing! Why did you have pick right now to go on vacation?_

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><p><strong>Well, what do you think so far? Please leave me a review; your feedback keeps my creative fires burning, and lets me know that someone out there is enjoying all the hard work that goes into these stories. Thanks so much! ;)<strong>

**Oh, and an update to Secret is coming soon! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**And the story continues... but sorry for the long delay. _*Blushing!*_ Thanks for being so patient! Man, life is just TOO busy! Hoping that chapter 3 won't take quite so long, I've already got it in the works. :)**

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><p>Neatly tucked away in her clever hiding place, Roxanne listened as the thieves went about the business of securing the bank. At gunpoint, the security guard on duty was forced to lock all the doors and lower the shades in every window. The gunmen even had the presence of mind to force the tellers out from behind the desk before they had a chance to push the alert button, signaling the police that a robbery was under way.<p>

Every hostage in the building was forced to hand over their phones to the criminals, who tauntingly piled them in plain view of the unfortunate captives, but just out of reach. With the exception of the bank manager, they were all made to huddle in a group in the middle of the lobby, and their hands were zip tied behind their backs to prevent any movement or the possibility of them fighting back.

As Roxanne watched from the relative safety of her clever hiding place, the criminals told the aging bank manager to empty the cash drawers and safe. She cringed at the cruel treatment that the poor man was receiving at the hands of his captors as he was roughly shoved forward from place to place in the building.

At one point, he was shoved so hard he stumbled and fell to the ground. Despite his age, the ruffians gave him no mercy, and kicked him as he struggled to get to his feet, laughing all the while. She felt terrible for the older gentleman as he suffered the abuse that was being heaped on him, and with each passing moment her anger was sparked hotter and brighter.

Being a seasoned captive herself, she knew all about the difficulties of being held against her will, but never had she been abused like this. Although incredibly inconvenient and at times unbelievably annoying, her abductions were always executed with the utmost care and concern for her safety.

In fact, the usual order of business was for one or the other of her kidnappers to inquire about her comfort before proceeding on with the plan. If she informed them that she was less than comfortable in any way, they would stop everything to make the necessary adjustments until she informed them things were better. Then, and _only _then, would the diabolical duo proceed to unleash terror on the city.

Her busy mind angrily began brainstorming ways she could help put a damper on the little party the cruel criminals were enjoying at the moment, without putting herself in danger. As her eyes scanned the lobby, observing the proceedings of the heist, they dropped to the pile of cell phones heaped in the middle of the floor. _That's it!_

She once again slid back behind her half wall, and as quietly as possible began to rummage in her purse until she found the object necessary to the only feasible plan she could come up with.

Triumphantly she pulled her iphone from it's pocket inside her purse. To her surprise, the first person to call for help that popped into her head was the one person she would typically avoid calling at all costs. It took an incredible effort for her to push that idea out of her mind; there was no way she was going to call Megamind for help, she'd never hear the end of it if she did. Besides, she really didn't want him to know that he was the first person she thought of in her time of need.

Her next choice seemed to be a much better one; shrewd and effective, and capable of monumentally messing things up for the bad guys, not to mention being a sneaky way of calling for help from her serial kidnaper, if she was lucky enough to for him to see.

In a flash she dialed up the number that she knew would do an amazing amount of damage to the plan these creeps were in the midst of pulling off. Anyone that was stupid enough to knock over a bank and abuse an old man while _she_ was around was going to get their asses handed to them one way or another, she was going to make sure of that.

Roxanne began to get a bit nervous when, after several rings, there was no answer. If he didn't pick up, she would have to resort to plan C… calling the police. Unfortunately, that was not the best choice in Metro City when the local hero was out of town, and unable to put the appropriate pressure on and give the necessary guidance to make sure the situation was handled properly, or to step in when they screwed things up.

When she heard the voice mail recording beginning to play, she felt mild panic rising in her chest. Closing her eyes, she again willed herself to breathe slowly until the moment had passed. She _had_ to keep her head if she wanted to be of any help at all to that poor old man and the other hostages who fearfully continued to endure the torment of the criminals.

With determination she opened her eyes and tried again, hoping and praying that _this _timehe would answer. _Oh please pick up!_

"Hey, Roxanne! I thought you were… "

_Oh thank God! _Relief surged through her when she heard the baritone voice at the other end of the line. "Shut up Greg, I need you to just listen. I'm in trouble and I… "

"Again?"

"I said shut up!" she hissed in an irritated whisper. Though she didn't normally speak to her boss in such an audacious fashion, there had been several times when she had resorted to snapping at him when he refused to listen, and rather than dealing with his thick headed lack of ability to hear her out at the moment, she preferred to bring out the big guns here and now to get his attention. He knew her well enough to understand that when this side of her showed itself, it was time to just shut up, and follow the instincts of his top reporter.

"Ok, sorry. What's wrong? What kind of trouble are we talking about here, is it Megamind?"

"No. I'm at the bank, and as I was leaving it was held up. There are three gunmen here, and they have about a dozen people zip tied in the middle of the room. They seem pretty unhinged, because the poor bank manager is taking some pretty harsh abuse from these guys."

There was a moment of silence, and Roxanne began to wonder if the call had been lost without her realizing it. Suddenly from the other end of the line she heard a frustrated groan. "Roxanne? What is it about you that you seems to attract trouble like a magnet? No matter _where_ you are or _what_ you're doing, you're _always_ in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

As she listened to her boss's deep voice grousing about her knack for coming across _exciting_ situations, she could visualize the portly man sitting in his desk, eyes shut tight as he pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the tension headache that was beginning to form.

"Greg, I know, we can talk about this later. I really need you to listen to me right now."

"Before I do that I need to know if your ok; obviously they don't have you tied up or you wouldn't be on the phone with me right now."

Roxanne rolled her eyes and thought to herself, "_Thanks for pointing that out to me, genius"_, but rather than express her private thoughts to her boss, she opted to say, " I'm fine. When they held up the place, they told everyone to get down, and the spot where I was standing was kind of out of the way and behind a wall, so they haven't noticed me yet."

"Well make sure you stay there, and don't do anything stupid and get yourself caught!"

"Yeah, I know. So listen… here's what I need you to do. You're going to hang up and call 911; these guys were pretty fast, they got the place secured and communication cut off before anyone had a chance to alert the police of what was going on."

"Ok, got it."

"Then I'm going to start sending you video of what's happening via iphone. I need you to get this on air as quickly as you can. It'll be a big help for the cops to see what's happening inside, and help them identify these guys. They didn't bother with trying to hide their faces, which is another reason that I think they're a bit unhinged; they just don't seem to care."

"Oh my god, Roxanne! That's nuts… you're going to end up getting yourself caught and be in a heap of trouble. You have to keep in mind that Metro Man is out of town, who's going to come and bail you out of it this time?"

_Why did I have to tell him about that? _"Just let me worry about that Greg, I've got it under control."

"Roxanne, as your boss I'm telling you right now… do _NOT_ try this. I'll call the police and they'll get someone over there as soon as they can."

The instant she heard her boss informing her that he was _ordering_ her to stay back and away from the situation, biding her time like a coward while she watched that poor old man being pummeled by the bad guys, a white hot surge of rage boiled up in her already angry little heart.

"And as you're top reporter, I'm telling you that I _AM_ going to do this! If you want to see this situation have any kind of happy ending, those morons that call themselves cops in this city are going to need all the help they can get. Besides, there's _no way _I'm going to sit here and watch this going on, and not get a story out of it if I'm at all capable of doing so. You're not going to be complaining when the viewers come flocking to their TV's to see exclusive footage on your station."

Her outburst was met with complete silence as her boss ruminated the implications of what she just said. She knew him well enough to know that there were very few things that could get his blood going like the prospect of upping the ratings; he was willing to do just about anything to stay on top in that department, and if his top reporter was willing to put herself on the line for that purpose… well, he could live with that.

"Ok, but be careful! Stay back and _don't… get… caught_."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. Now be ready to get the video on air right away."

When they ended the call, Roxanne sat back for a moment to steel herself in preparation for the task she had committed herself to. If she wasn't careful, her boss could very well be right; this whole situation could end very badly for her.

As her thoughts wandered in that unpleasant territory, she suddenly heard in the background a loud thud, and the sound of the bank manager crying out as the thugs laughed sadistically at his pain. Any trepidation she may have been experiencing was suddenly whisked away by another surge of boiling hot anger.

She clenched her teeth, and plunked in the necessary set up for her phone to capture and send video to Greg at the station. With a vindictive sense of satisfaction, she leaned forward just enough to be able to peer around the corner of the concealing wall which she hid behind, and held out her phone to begin recording the crime in progress.

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><p>Megamind and Minion sat at the work table in the lair, going over the final details of the glorious plan that was certain to be the demise of the Man in White upon his return to Metro City. After finally deciding to go with the terrifyingly destructive satellite, code named Solaser, the blue villain had for a while begun to regain a bit of the lost spring in his step.<p>

His excitement at the prospect of the incredibly perfect, singularly powerful laser that would harness the power of the sun to destroy Metro Man had brightened his mood over the past few days. However, as the planning process began to draw to a close and it was nearly time to begin construction of the horrifying weapon, Megamind once again began to slip into a funk.

It had now been a _full_ two weeks since he had seen Miss Ritchi, and no matter how hard he worked on the device that would surely be the crowning achievement of his career in villainy, or how much he attempted to absorb himself in the delightful thought of witnessing Metro Man's doom, he just couldn't stop thinking about her.

He sat at his work table with his sidekick as they went over the final schematics and double checked the mathematics required to make this plan his greatest success. Although he had originally intended on focusing his energy exclusively on the satellite, his mind continuously wandered from thought to thought about _her_.

Images flitted through his mind of the way her blue eyes changed color depending on the light of the space in which she sat from a beautiful crystal blue, to one that was deeper and more mysterious. Or the sprinkling of freckles that dusted her cheeks and nose so charmingly, and that cute little dimple that showed itself when she gave him that crooked smile.

Oh, he didn't even want to get started on her sassy banter, the way she could be so infuriating, and yet make him want to laugh all at the same time. There was no one else like her, and as each day passed, he continued to shock himself more and more at how much he missed her.

He sat with his head propped in his hand as his elbow rested on the arm of his favorite chair, dejectedly allowing his mind to wander, and wallowing in his loneliness for the pretty reporter. Yes, the more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that due to his monumental distraction and lack of ability to focus, now was just not the best time to pursue creating the most horrifyingly maniacal plan known to mankind. How could he _possibly_ create an e-vil work of art when all he could think about was his sweet and lovely Miss Ritchi?

Minion continued to resolutely plug numbers into the computer, oblivious to Megamind's absent minded stare. Without a doubt, this was truly his boss' greatest work yet, and he felt a sense of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of seeing this magnificent contraption in action.

Never mind the fact that it probably wouldn't work, none of his plans _ever_ worked… but still, it would be a sight to behold and his fishy little heart stirred with pride when he imagined the laser as it beamed down on the unsuspecting hero, and the epic explosion that would rock the city to it's core. _Yeah, this is going to be great!_

"Now Sir, these numbers just aren't adding up no matter how many times I run them through the computer. We really need to get them squared away if we want to get the correct trajectory when it comes time to launch, so I need you to come over here and take a look. Remember the last time this happened?" Minion stopped in mid thought to chuckle at the memory. "You looked at the mathematics and had it figured out and corrected in a few seconds, even though the computer had been at it all day and _still_ couldn't get it right."

When Minion's comments were met with silence, which was a very unusual response when Megamind's incredible intellect was being mentioned in such a complimentary way, the little fish looked up in puzzlement. He had been noticing an unusually high level of distraction in his blue friend lately, despite the wonder and glory of this new plan that would normally have had him leaping with manic excitement.

Minion's scaly brows furrowed with concern when he saw his boss slouching in his chair, staring off into space with a slightly depressed look in his blue face.

"Sir… are you listening?"

His query was met once again with silence; the villain didn't even bat an eyelash to give an indication that he had even noticed he was being spoken to.

_What the heck… _"Sir?"

Finally, life seemed to stir once again in his boss' eyes. Megamind looked at his fishy friend and said, "Huh?"

"Sir, the numbers. They aren't adding up, and I need you to… "

With a deep sigh, Megamind tossed his arms into the air and back onto his lap with a slap, and said, "Minion, can't you see I'm busy? I don't have time for this right now; I have much more important things to think about!"

Minion stared at his villainous friend in blank confusion for a moment, completely at a loss of what to say. He had never seen Megamind act so strangely.

"More important? What do you mean, more important? What could _possibly_ be more important than defeating Metro Man? Oh, come on Sir, cheer up! I know you've been bored lately, but he'll be back soon and we really need to get this plan up and running. You know, for his _welcome home present_?" Minion said with a deep nod of his fishy body inside his dome and a mischievous grin, hoping that would help his boss to perk up a bit.

"No, Minion. I think Metro Mahn may actually have been right. I know… shocker. But maybe I _do_ need a vie-cayshun. I just can't keep my mind on task; it's constantly wandering, and I'm finding myself suffering from an extreme lack of interest in my own plan." He stopped short of telling the spacefish that the reason why it was wandering was that he couldn't stop thinking about Miss Ritchi.

"Wait… vacation? You're the one who said '_e-vil never rests'_." Minion responded, giving his best dramatic imitation of his boss' previous assertion to Metro Man that no, he most certainly did _not_ need a vacation, despite the hero's hint that he should take the month off for a little rest and relaxation.

"Well, I changed my mind."

"_What_? Changed your mind? What about the plan? We've put all this work into what was supposed to be your most magnificent scheme _ever_, and now you just want to can the whole thing!" Minion responded with exasperation. The poor fish was completely flummoxed at Megamind's announcement, and upon finishing speaking he stood with his mouth agape and his hands spread out before him, with a look of utter bewilderment in his brown eyes.

"Listen, I don't want to _can_ it, just postpone it for a while. Just as you said; this plan is going to be magnificent, and I want to be completely engaged and able to thoroughly enjoy it when the time comes to unleash the fury of my abominable work of art."

Minion stood speechlessly staring at the villain, attempting to process the fact that Megamind was effectively throwing in the towel after all the work they had poured into this project. What a disappointment; the little fish had been so looking forward to seeing his boss' crowning achievement really ruin Metro Man's day, not to mention scare the pants off the whole city at the same time.

Trying to stay positive, Minion tried to focus on the fact that he did say he wasn't completely _abandoning_ it, just postponing it for a while. Maybe, with the right positive reinforcement and encouragement, he could entice his dejected friend to pick up on the plan after a little rest, and still have it ready in time for Metro Man's return.

"Tell you what, Sir. Why don't you just take a break for a while. We _have_ been at it for hours; maybe that's all you need, some time to kick back and just _let_ your mind wander a bit. You know, I'll bet that after an afternoon of relaxing, you'll feel refreshed and as good as new, and you'll be ready to tackle this plan with a new vengeance!" _Oh, good word! That'll really get him going; there's no way he's gonna want to quit after hearing this._

Minion was getting himself stirred up as he attempted to bolster his friend's inspiration to keep plugging away at the plan. The more he talked, the more enthusiastic he became. By the end of his speech, he had begun waving his robotic hands about in a manner very reminiscent of his melodramatic best friend, and his voice took on and excited lilt.

Seeing the fish's excitement, Megamind felt guilty that he was so obviously disappointing his loyal friend. After all, they had worked incredibly hard on this, and Minion had become so excited to see the final results. Although he didn't feel like it, he decided to play along so as not to make his fishy friend more disappointed that he already was.

"Yes, good idea. You might be right about that, Minion. Let's just call it a day, and we'll pick back up where we left off tomorrow."

"Great! Now you just sit there and watch some TV, and I'll go fix you something to eat. I'm just _sure_ that you're going to feel like a new man after a few hours of R and R!" Minion asserted cheerfully. With that, he handed his friend the remote to the wall of monitors that he used to keep tabs on the happenings of the city, and to help him plan the most opportune time to kidnap his favorite victim, and trudged away to the makeshift kitchen.

"_R and R… hmmmm, he doesn't know how right he is. A few hours of R and R would fix everything!" _Megamind thought to himself as the memory of the way she signed her initials with a cute little RR bobbed around in his head.

With a sigh, he turned and watched the spacefish as he retreated down the hallway. Although the villain thoroughly enjoyed his work at furthering the cause for evil, he knew that his henchman didn't always completely agree with the schemes he hatched on a daily basis. And he also knew that at times his henchman grew tired of the same old grind; assist in coming up with an evil plan, help execute said plan, watch his boss being drug off to prison… again, and help come up with and put into action a fabulous jail break so his boss could start the whole cycle all over again.

Despite that however, Minion was utterly loyal, and would go to the ends of the Earth for his ward. He did what he could to give his assistance wherever it was needed, whether he agreed with the plan or not, and always remained positive and supportive. The fish was indispensable to Megamind's life work.

The trouble right now, however, was that the villain didn't _want_ his sidekick to be quite so supportive. Minion had actually seemed to have become rather excited about this particular plan, and he was becoming downright pushy about persevering until all the work they had put into it came to fruition. Megamind could certainly understand that, and normally he would be on board entirely, but darn it… he just wanted to be left alone with his thoughts.

Since he started his career in evil, he had never been without Roxanne for more than a week, and knowing that he'd have her in his clutches again soon had always been the power and inspiration that pushed him on to his next menacingly glorious scheme. Now, it had been _so_ long since he saw her last, and it would still be another two whole weeks before he would get to see her again. Without her, he just couldn't seem to get the focus and drive necessary to push forward; he felt like something was truly missing in his life.

He let out a heavy sigh as he shook himself from his thoughts. Maybe Minion was right; maybe he just needed to take a break for the afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow he would wake up having reclaimed his zealous desire to wreak havoc on the city and bring his lifelong nemesis to his knees. _Anyway, it would be a shame to let this plan go to waste. Minion's right, it's going to be great!_

With those final thoughts Megamind decided, for Minion's sake, to give his best effort to applying himself completely to finishing the Solaser and having it ready to go in time for Metro Mahn's return… _Tomorrow. I'll work on it tomorrow. Right now I'm just going to do what Minion said and relax. Besides, if I keep it to channel 8, I might get to see a repeat of one of Roxanne's earlier broadcasts!_

At the thought of at least seeing the lovely reporter on the screens of his monitors, a distracting, fluttery feeling began to assail his stomach and chest, and he was utterly shocked at the smile that plastered itself to his cheeks and refused to go away.

The mix of emotions he was currently experiencing was staggering. The evil side of him was horrified at the sappy, gushy way he was fawning all over the idea of seeing her image on the monitors, but at the moment, a much larger part of himself didn't give a hoot about what his evil side thought. He wanted to see his Miss Ritchi, and if that meant sitting in his favorite chair, wasting hours of his evening watching TV in hopes of catching a glimpse of her for just a moment, well, that's the way it was going have to be.

He pushed the button on his remote, and the wall of monitors blazed to life. After a few clicks, he found the appropriate channel and settled in resolutely to wait it out until he got his fix of gazing at the most beautiful woman in the city.

Oh, if only he had timed it better. Right now he was watching a string of commercials that could bore the paint right off the walls; ridiculous advertisements for car dealerships and appliance stores, trailers for upcoming episodes of trite sitcoms, teasers for the next segment of channel 8 news, blah, blah, blah.

He looked at his watch, and with a roll of his eyes he thought, _"Oh god! That's right, she's been off air for hours, there's almost no chance of seeing her now. Not even a repeat at this point unless there's something monumental that she reported on earlier today." _

The foul mood that the villain had been in earlier began to sour further as he resigned himself to the idea that rather than seeing _her_, he would have to spend his evening watching lame reality shows, and more commercials than he thought was healthy for one's intelligence to handle all in one sitting. With a sigh, he slouched back in his chair and once again propped his blue face on his fist, closing his eyes in an attempt to shut out the annoying programming.

As he sat there, thinking about Roxanne, his sharp ears suddenly registered her name coming from the speakers. His eyes instantly popped open and he sat bolt upright as he stared at the screens, with that same gushy smile that had attached itself so stubbornly to his lips moments ago. Thinking how lucky he was to actually be catching one of her rare late evening broadcasts, he watched in anticipation to behold the face he had been pining away to see for, oh, it seemed like _so_ long.

"….this live footage we've just received of the bank robbery at Metro Savings and Loan located at the corner of 4th and Pine Street downtown. Ms. Ritchi was apparently at the scene when the criminals secured the bank, and to our knowledge is still inside the building. At this point the only details we have as to her condition and that of the other hostages is there are no serious injuries. Let's go now to the video she just sent us… "

The smile on Megamind's face instantly faded as he watched the screens switch from the middle aged anchor man with the slicked back hair to a shaky and slightly fuzzy image of a rather dark room. The phone, because it was obvious that that was the device that had been used to capture the image he was seeing, was being held low to the ground, behind some kind of wall or partition.

A view of the inside of the bank was being slowly swept across the screens from one end of the building to the other. As the image moved, he could see in about the middle of the room a huddle of miserable looking forms sitting on the floor. In the background he could hear shouting, and a moment later a loud thud punctuated by a crash and a cry of pain, which was followed by cruel laughter.

The image changed once again as the phone was turned to show the lovely face he had been longing to see, but rather than seeing that sassy crooked smile he adored, her beauty was shadowed by concern. Her blue eyes were narrowed and filled with a combination of worry and anger, and her brows were furrowed as she began to whisper into the phone a perfect description of what she was seeing and how the crime had progressed up to that point. The instant Megamind saw her expression, he ridiculously couldn't help but think, _"I've seen that expression before. Wow, she looks really mad." _

Moments later, the short video she had sent was over. The greasy haired anchor was back on the bank of monitors, talking and speculating as to how the police would handle this situation and how quickly Metro Man would respond to the danger his girlfriend was in, but Megamind didn't hear a word of it.

He was flabbergasted by what he had just seen. His mind swirled with more thoughts than he could keep track of at one time. Among those thoughts was the fact that he was raging mad at that idiot pretty boy in white tights for skipping town just when Roxanne was actually in real danger. He also marveled at how completely she was able to keep her head in even the most extreme circumstances, she really was an amazing woman.

As these thoughts tumbled around in his mind, he could vaguely hear in the background the metallic thump of his sidekick's footsteps as he returned from the kitchen. Not even bothering to look at the fish, he stared at the floor as his chest tightened and his breathing became more rapid with worry.

Minion happily trudged up behind his master, carrying a plate with a thick sandwich and a drink, and several cookies for desert. With a smile he held out the plate to the blue spaceman and said, "Here you go. I made you your favorite…. Sir?"

He was startled when he noticed his friend didn't even seem to notice he was there. He sat stiffly forward in his chair with his hands gripped tightly to the armrests, looking like he would bolt at a moments notice, and his face wore a worried expression.

_What's going on here? _"Umm, Sir… are you ok? You don't look so good, are you feeling alright?"

Just at that moment, the anchor once again drew Megamind's attention by mentioning her name. His eyes instantly snapped up to the wall of monitors, and with impatience he frantically waved his hand and shushed his fishy friend with a hissing, _"SHHHHHHHHH!"_

"We've just received another live video from our own Roxanne Ritchi; let's go there now… "

Once again, the shaky, shadowy image from the phone showed the troubled face of his favorite victim, dimly lit by the screen of the device she held, as she picked up where she left off in her description of the goings on behind the locked doors of the bank.

This time, she calmly and articulately described the criminals in more detail, as well as the rough treatment that one of the hostages was receiving at the hands of thugs. By the sound of it, and from what he could hear occasionally in the background, it was pretty harsh indeed, and his concern for her escalated with every word that fell from her lips.

As she completed her description, she once again turned the phone around to scan her surroundings and give whoever showed up to help an excellent idea of what they were up against. In the midst of his near panic for her, he couldn't help but think, _"Wow, she's smart. No one else could keep their head and so clearly think through a situation like that."_

Just as the image swept through the building for a second time, one of the thugs just happened to glance in the direction of the spot where she had herself tucked away, hidden from view. Despite the dimness of the room, it was obvious that the hooligan noticed something amiss right away when his head snapped back in the effort of doing a double take.

A moment later, the crook gathered the attention of his friends with a point in her direction, and all heads were suddenly turned toward her. A murmur of threatening voices rose in the background as one of the men began to cross the room to where she sat behind her clever hiding place.

Instantly the phone turned toward her once again, and the once relatively calm whisper that had so concisely described the crime as it unfolded now sounded near panic as she rapidly explained what was happening. Her worried but courageous face now bore an expression of fear. Frantically, she blurted out in a shaky voice, "Oh, no… they saw me. Someone get _over_ here and help us, quick!"

Even before she was able to finish her plea for help, from somewhere above her a shadow moved across her. The picture jerked crazily as she seemed to be roughly yanked by the arm that held the phone, and quick split second images of her as she was hauled out from her shelter flashed across the screen, mingled with momentary images of her assailant as he drug her along.

The sound of her voice momentarily crying out came from the speakers, and the picture seemed to spin in a swirling mess of shapes, light and shadow. Suddenly, with an odd thud, the monitors went blank, giving way once again to the anchor who seemed to be a bit shaken by the drama that had just been witnessed by the entire city on live TV.

Minion stood next to his boss' chair, still holding the plate that held the sandwich and other delights, his mouth agape and his eyes so wide they could have popped from his head at any moment. He stared in shocked amazement at the screen, not really hearing what the greasy haired anchorman was saying.

He simply couldn't believe what he had just seen happen. _That was Miss Ritchi. Oh, no… not Miss Ritchi, not _our_ Miss Ritchi… _

At that last thought, a horrible weight seemed to hit him like a ton of bricks, and a fearful thought took hold of him. _What about Sir… what's he going to do?_

The fish swallowed with a gulp. Slowly, he turned around to look at his boss and check his reaction to the scene they had just witnessed.

Megamind sat stock still and tense in his chair, hands gripping the armrests so tightly it was a wonder that the tips of his fingers didn't simply tear straight through the leather. His breathing had become rapid and shallow, and every inch of him bespoke of the anxiety that was coursing through him at the moment. He was like a coiled spring, ready to fly loose in an instant.

But it was his face… as Minion watched, the expression on his face became more and more filled with rage. His narrowed green eyes radiated venomous wrath as his brows lowered darkly over them, and the corners of his lip curled back in a silent snarl to reveal clenched teeth as he continued to stare sightlessly at the monitors, replaying in his mind what they had just seen.

As the fish observed his boss' reaction, cold dread gripped his heart. The countenance of his friend continued to grow progressively more volatile and filled with fury, and before he had even realized he was doing so, Minion had backed away from him until he hit the bank of controls and dials situated directly adjacent to the wall of monitors. _Oh… no. This can NOT be good…_

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! Like I said, it shouldn't be as long a delay this time around, hoping to get chapter 3 updated within the next week or 2. :)<strong>

**Please review and tell me what you think! Reviews _honestly_ make my day, and help inspire me to keep going. :) Thank you! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Wow, this chapter came out quick, and I already have chapter 4 well under way! Should have this little adventure finished before too long. **

**Enjoy! :)**

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><p>As Minion watched, his boss suddenly leapt to his feet, sending his favorite chair skidding across the room, and making it hit the wall with it's myriad of controls with a crash. Before both his feet hit the ground, he was off like a shot, snatching his gloves and the De-gun off the table as he sped by without missing a beat.<p>

"_BRAINBOTS! _My cape!" he shouted as he stopped for a moment to strap the gun to his thigh.

The bots had occasionally heard a similar tone of voice from their Daddy before, though it was very seldom that he resorted to using it. He was a kindhearted Daddy, who cared for their well being and even took the time to play with them as often as possible, but his temper would occasionally flare nevertheless; and when that happened, every bot knew it was time to put forth every effort to make him happy, or stay out of his way. But this time was different; none of them had ever heard him sound _this_ angry before…

Without wasting a second, several of the braver bots flew off to retrieve the called upon cape, while their brothers shrank back nervously from their furious Daddy as he stood waiting and brooding with a savage expression on his face. With eyestalks craning around their various hiding places, they watched the scene unfold, ready to bolt if need be.

Moments later, the courageous brainbots returned with the cape as it fluttered behind them. They approached Daddy cautiously, hesitating to get too close and quivering as they watched his blue face develope a distinctly purplish cast, and his brows lowering deeper over his furious green eyes.

As he attempted again and again to unsuccessfully pull his gloves on in the midst of his nearly hysterical mad rush to get out the door, he looked up and noticed the brain bots, trembling as they held his cape just out of reach.

"NOW!" he barked at them, and in an instant, they rushed forward, dropped the cape over his shoulders, and burst away to hide with their brethren as if their lives depended on it.

The entire time, Minion had continued to stand slack jawed against the bank of controls, watching his boss with wide eyes. He knew there would be trouble, serious trouble, when he first saw the broadcast, but this reaction was shocking. This was _far_ more than the usual reaction one would expect from a villain defending his turf, or in this case, his victim; or even that of someone showing concern for a friend. A reaction like this hinted toward something far deeper and much more profound…

"Sir, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to get her." the blue devil ground out as he finally finished pulling up the last glove and latched the front of his cape, and then bolted forward again full tilt toward the invisible car.

"Whoa… wait, wait! Think about it, what's it going to look like if you show up and rescue her from these guys? She's a smart girl Sir, she can handle herself. Look how she's handled _you_ all these years."

Megamind stopped for a moment in the midst of climbing into the car, considering what his friend had said. Minion was right; she was the smartest person he had ever known after all, and she had done a fabulous job of handling him since day one of their kidnapping career together. And it would look very suspicious if the city's most feared villain were to suddenly show up and rescue the damsel he had been abducting for years…. _but who cares!_

"It doesn't matter what you have to say, you're not talking me out of this. _I'm… going… to get… her_!"

Poor Minion was torn by the mixed emotions he was suffering from at the moment. On one hand, he was terribly concerned for the witty reporter that he had come to consider as a dear friend after so many years of repeated schemes and kidnappings. The thought of anything happening to her broke his fishy little heart, and he shuddered to think of what it would do to his master. But he also saw the implications of rashly showing up and rescuing her, too. It would look _very_ bad for Megamind… after all, he did have a reputation to think about.

"Well, why don't we just give it some time before we rush into anything. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if Metro Man shows up and takes care of everything, I'm sure they have an emergency contact number for him, and it would be nothing for him to zip over here and… "

"I don't want to hear this, Minion. I'm leaving… _NOW_; with or without you. Are you coming with me or not?"

Minion stared in shocked silence at his boss. Megamind had never even considered pulling off any kind of plan without him before…

Megamind regarded his fishy friend; he could see the confusion in his eyes, and he did feel a hint of regret at the harsh words he had just spoken, but the thought of his Miss Ritchi, sitting there in the hands of those… those… _barbarians_, had him on the verge of panic. With every second that passed by, his heart felt as if it was being squeezed and then twisted tighter and tighter inside his chest, and then being yanked up into his throat in a constricted little knot.

After a moment of indulging in a tense staring contest with his lifelong friend, Megamind couldn't take the wait any longer. He felt as though he would burst if he stood still a single second more. With a slight nod and a final look at the fish, he turned quickly and finished climbing into the drivers seat, slamming the door behind himself.

"_He actually thinks he's going to do this without me! Ohhh-HO noooooo, Blueberry. You're not going to go this one alone!"_

Bursting forward at top speed, the spacefish ran for the passenger side of the car. Reaching for the door and throwing it open just in time, he jumped in as his angry blue friend took off with a cloud of smoky, burning rubber and a squeal of the tires.

Once inside and situated, Minion cast a sidelong look at Megamind, trying to decide whether or not to broach the subject of jeopardizing his carefully constructed reputation by rescuing the damsel. Although he was completely on board in wanting to get Miss Ritchi away from those creeps and out of danger, his practical little mind kept going back to the years of hard work and conditioning of the populace that had gone into making his boss the most formidable, terrifying villain Metro City had ever seen. He just hated to see all that go out the window in a single afternoon.

As he sat there for a few moments observing his friend, he continued to be shocked at the reaction he was having to this situation. Megamind's eyes seemed to bore into the street in front of him as he sped like a bullet in and out of traffic. Swerving here and there, they narrowly missed the other commuters that traveled down the road, all of whom were oblivious to the fact that they were just barely spared from a terrible pile up with an invisible car.

It was unusual for the blue bad boy to do the driving himself; it had always been a bit of an unspoken understanding that Minion would be the one to do the driving. Now that Minion was the one riding shotgun, he remembered why he had always preferred it that way. Megamind, in his manic exuberance, tended to be a bit reckless behind the wheel, and Minion could remember many times that he had thanked Evil Heaven when they arrived at their destination alive and intact.

This excursion was far worse than any of the others. With each near miss and every swerve, the fish's heart rotated from leaping into his throat to dropping to the tips of his tail fins, and he clutched onto the door of the car with one robotic hand, and the back of the bench seat with the other for dear life. He found himself wishing that he had gone ahead and installed those seatbelts anyway that Megamind had nixed the idea of when they were planning and building their horrifyingly evil car.

Megamind's hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly, his knuckles were as close to turning white as the blue man's complexion would allow, and Minion could almost imagine that when all of this was said and done, there would forever be the imprint of the villain's hands pressed into the wheel. His teeth were clenched tight as he concentrated on maneuvering through the rush hour traffic, and the fish could see the muscles in his jaw twitch as he ground his teeth in frustration.

Although it was obvious that now was probably _not_ the best time, Minion decided to go ahead and take a stab at trying to convince his friend to be prudent and cautious in the way he handled this situation. At the speed they were traveling, if he didn't spit his thoughts out here and now, they'd be at the bank before he got the chance.

"Sir, do you have a plan of any kind for how you're going to go about rescuing Miss Ritchi?"

Megamind glanced away from the road at the spacefish with a glare, causing the car to swerve crazily, and Minion's heart to leap into his throat again before his boss put it right.

"I'm the villain, Minion. This isn't a rescue… don't be ridiculous!" He snapped with a huff.

Minion sat silently for a moment, trying to process the confusing train of thought that his boss seemed to be using to come to the conclusion that this was not a rescue. _We're going over there to save the girl from a bunch of bad guys, soooooo…._

"How is this not a rescue? It sure looks like a rescue to me." the fish responded dubiously.

"I am not rescuing her! I'm merely protecting my turf. These lowly, brainless thugs have made far too many mistakes. Robbing _my_ bank, in _my_ city… " he paused for a moment; the expression on his face becoming even darker than before, and then he continued in a dangerously low voice through gritted teeth, "and capturing _my_ victim will _NOT_ go unanswered."

"Sir, if I may, what about lying low for a while; watching the place to see if Metro Man shows up? I just can't imagine him not showing up when his girlfriend is..."

At the mention of Roxanne being Metro Man's girlfriend, the angry villain's temper flared again. He didn't like to think about that on a good day, and it was the _last_ thing he wanted to hear about right now.

"I told you I didn't want to hear it, Minion! There's just not enough time for that. What if we sit outside and wait for Mr. Goody Two Shoes as you're suggesting, and he doesn't show up? What if during that time, something happens to her?" Megamind stopped, and the expression on his face changed suddenly from boiling rage to deep dread… heartbreak… fear. _Oh, god… I can't let anything happen to her!_

A moment later, he recovered his composure, and clearing his throat, he decided it would be best to cover his tracks a bit just in case Minion had been noticing that he was acting a trifle strangely since this whole mess began.

With a meager attempt at nonchalance, he continued, "I mean… think about it! Don't you remember how long it took to select and train a suitable abductee? She meets my stringent criteria to the T, and after all these years, she has the banter down pat. Never mind that she still won't scream for me, but as far as that goes, she could still show potential with the right motivation. Do you _really_ want to go through all that again, when we already have the perfect victim waiting for us right there at that bank? I, for one, don't want to needlessly go through all that drudgery again, when all we have to do is show up and get her."

Minion watched his boss skeptically as he prattled on, not sure that he believed a word of it. The way he was talking now definitely didn't square with the way he had been acting since he had first seen the broadcast and found out that Miss Ritchi was in trouble, and he could see through his friend's false fronts from a mile away.

Deciding it would be best not to press the matter, he decided to push on instead with the idea of at _least_ having a plan in place so as to minimize the damage this escapade would likely do to the villain's evil reputation.

"Alright, but we still need a plan, don't you think? How about using the holo-watch? You can pose as just another random, average citizen. You could get her out of there, and no one would have to know it was you who did the rescuing."

Megamind considered this proposition. That would be a very handy way of handling things. He could do what needed to be done without looking like he had gone soft in front of the whole city. Yes, that's just the thing!

"Good idea, Minion! I'll switch it… " Megamind looked down at his wrist as he began to run through the plan with his friend; no holo-watch.

"Damn! I left it back at the lair."

"What?"

"I forgot it."

"_Great! _Now what are you going to do? That would have been the perfect way to cover your tracks. Now everyone's going to know it's you going in there to save her!" Minion said with a huff, already thinking of all the damage control they were going to have to do to re-establish their infamous notoriety with the citizens; not to mention all the overtime that would mean for him.

"Oh, stop grousing! This actually works out for the best; I can use this to make a statement that this is _my_ territory, and _NO _oneis going to mess with my city and not have a heavy price to pay." _And no one will EVER mess with my reporter without regretting the day they were born!_

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><p>When Roxanne noticed that the crooks had spotted her and were heading her way, her heart flip flopped in her chest at an alarming rate. She turned the phone toward herself with shaky hands and quickly blurted out in a slightly panicky voice, "Oh, no… they saw me. Someone get <em>over<em> here and help us, quick!"

Before she had even finished her plea for help, the thug that had been bearing down on her reached out and grasped the wrist of the arm that held the phone. With a tremendous yank, the thief tore her from her shelter and began to drag her across the room toward his cohorts. As he pulled, her wrist twisted painfully, causing her to cry out and drop the phone that she had continued to grasp onto for dear life in the attempt to capture as much of the situation as possible for the police… or whoever else might be inclined to rescue her.

The whole way across the room, she pulled and tugged and kicked in the attempt to break free of the grasp of her assailant, surprising herself by swearing a blue streak at them all along the way. Language like that was really quite uncharacteristic for her; she _never_ swore, but she was madder right now than she had ever been in her life.

Not that it would have done her any good if she _had_ been able to get away; she was trapped inside the building and it would have taken mere moments for them to corner her and lay hold of her again. But she had always been a firecracker, and she was not about to be a lamb lead silently to slaughter without putting up a hell of a fight. If they were going to capture her, she was going to make it as difficult for them as possible.

"Shut up!" the thug snarled at her, twisting her wrist even harder until she thought it might break. When he completed the charge across the lobby and approached his accomplices, he flung her forward, sending her tumbling onto the floor uncontrollably, and careening headlong into a desk that was directly in her path. With a loud thunk, the side of her cheek hit hard on the edge of the wood and bounced off again, making her head spin and stars dance before her eyes.

As she lay there, disoriented and attempting to regain her bearings, the thug walked nonchalantly to the spot where her phone lay. He waited a moment for her head to clear a bit so she could look at him, and when she did, he stomped on the phone with a cold blooded smile.

Looking smug, he sauntered back to where his partners in crime stood, eyeing Roxanne cruelly all the while and said, "Looks like we have ourselves a covert operator here."

One of the criminals had a decidedly uncomfortable look on his face, and he nervously blurted out, "Dude, she was sending video; someone out there saw that whole thing! Give it five minutes, and it's going to be all over the news, and we're gonna be screwed!"

"Shut up, Dave. I don't want to hear any more of your whining! You decided to put your ass on the line for this job, so now you're in it for the long haul. Quit being a pussy and get your mind on your job!"

The harsh words of the obvious leader of the heist shut Dave up in an instant, but he continued to look nervously at the still dazed reporter, and then crossed the room to the window, pulling the shades aside ever so slightly with one finger so he could watch outside for the exact moment the cops showed up to ruin their party.

The other crook seemed to have more composure than Dave did, and he watched Roxanne coldly and without emotion as she reached up with one hand to finger the swollen bump that was now beginning to form painfully on her cheek bone.

"What do you want to do with her, Kent?"

The leader of the group regarded her silently for a moment as he considered the question, giving her a look that made her skin crawl. At that moment, from somewhere down the street, the sound of sirens came blaring toward them and surrounded the building.

"Damn it! I told you … " Dave burst out in alarm.

"I told you to shut up!" Kent snapped with a fierce glare at his companion. Then turning toward the other crook, he responded, "Keep her over here where we can keep an eye on her, Eric. I don't want her over with the rest of them. Just grab that chair and tie her to it while I figure out what to do."

With a nod, Eric stepped forward and grabbed hold of Roxanne's collar, popping the top buttons off the front of her blouse from the force of his pull, and roughly dragged her to her feet and propelled her toward the indicated chair. With a hard shove, he forced her down and began the task of zip tying her wrists and ankles to the arms and legs of the chair, cinching the plastic bindings so tightly they bit sharply into her skin.

As much as she wanted to fight back, Roxanne's head still spun from the bash that she had received on the edge of the desk, and it was all she could do to keep from toppling over with dizziness when she was hauled to her feet.

Once she was firmly secured to her seat, Kent approached her, examining her lewdly from head to toe, allowing his eyes to linger here and there as he did so. It couldn't have been more obvious that he was checking her out if he had been holding up a sign stating _"I'm staring at your rack."_

After a moment, Kent took a step forward and leaned in so close to her she could plainly see the nicotine stains on his incredibly crooked teeth and just about causing her to gag at the strong reek of cigarette smoke, and he said mockingly, "Wow honey, you royally screwed things up for us. So what do you think I ought to do about this?"

"Well you can start by letting me go, and then getting ready to have your asses kicked."

"Oh really?"

Now her head was just beginning to clear a bit, and with that clearness of mind came another surge of anger that was intensified by her current captor's smug attitude.

"You have _no_ idea the depth of the shit you stepped in when you decided to grab me like that." she spat out at him.

Kent stepped back to observe her with a sneer and a scornful chuckle. "So who exactly is going to do the ass kicking today? You? The hostage who's zip tied to a chair? I don't know _why_, but I'm not very worried about your little threat."

"I have a couple of friends who aren't going to relish the fact that you're holding me like this, and when they see those video clips that just _happen_ to be all over the news _as we speak_… well, let's just put it this way, you're going to regret the day you were _born_ when he gets through with you." _Why does that sound just like something Megamind would say?_

"I thought you said _friends_… now it's just one?"

Roxanne sat quietly for a moment, wondering why she had made that slip, and slightly surprised that she had just referred to Megamind as her friend. But when it all came down to it, she was shocked to discover that the only person she could bring herself to think about showing up to help her right now wasn't Wayne, but her long time abductor; the one man it seemed should be furthest from her mind.

As he observed her expression, the thug misread her momentary confusion at her own feelings with the look of someone trying to bluff their way out of a sticky situation; he had seen it many times before.

Bending forward so he could look her directly in the eye, he said threateningly, "You know what I think? I think that you're full of shit. No one's coming here to rescue you, gorgeous; and even if they did, they couldn't get in here. We have this place sealed off as tight as a drum. _No_ one's going in or out of this place without me saying so."

The expression on his face suddenly became more dangerous, and lifting his gun and leveling it at her, he simply stated, "Now you're either going to shut the hell up, or I'm going to blow your head off. It's your choice. I've done it many times before, so it makes no difference to me either way."

Something about the coldness in his voice left her with no doubt that he meant what he said. Despite the fact that her brain was absolutely _churning_ with insults she was dying to hurl at the creep, she decided it would be best not to press her luck, so rather than opening her mouth and getting herself in more trouble than she was already in, she glared at her captor venomously. She stared resolutely at him, refusing to turn her eyes away from his and challenging him silently to look away first.

He regarded her for a few moments, taking in the withering glare that she continued to cast on him with surprised amusement, and finally he allowed his eyes to travel up and down the length of her body again, letting them rest on the front of her partially unbuttoned blouse, and the cleavage that lay teasingly exposed beneath the fabric. After a moment of this his eyes met hers again, and giving her a lecherous grin that made her stomach turn, he turned away to converse with his conspirators.

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><p><strong><em>Please oh please<em> review; a little love goes a long way to help keep the creative juices a-flowing! Thanks!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok guys, I have a sheepish admission. After giving out my promise to some of my reviewers that the fight scene was coming in the next update, even if I had to write a 20 page chapter to make it happen… it didn't happen**. **I'm so embarrassed! *Hiding my face in my hands and blushing uncontrollably!* That'll teach me to make those kinds of promises!**

**I honestly tried my hardest to do it all in one single chapter. That's how the end of the story was written too, in a single chapter, and the funny thing is, that's how long it ended up… exactly 21 pages! LOL! But I just couldn't justify smashing it all in a single, long update. It just seemed to work better split in two, so that's what I did.**

**Sorry! Hopefully you all won't be too mad at me for making you wait a little bit longer. But I do promise not to make you wait for **_**very**_** long. The final installment is pretty much ready to go. Just a bit of tweaking here and there, and I'll have it up for you soon. **

**In the meantime, I think you'll like this chapter. *wink, wink!* Ok, I'll stop talking now. Go have fun!**

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><p>The invisible car pulled up to the curb across the street from the bank, unable to get any closer due to the mass of police officers milling around aimlessly amongst the road blocks and squad cars in front of the huge granite building, attempting to look like they knew what they were doing.<p>

Megamind jumped up on the bench seat of the car with his knees and leaned over his friend in order to get a better look at the situation. Despite being slightly surprised that they had arrived on the scene so quickly, much less finding the place at all, he was disgusted by the brainless way they stood around nervously doing nothing, occasionally glancing at the sky in hopes that their pretty boy Hero in White would show up and relieve them from actually having to deal with this situation themselves.

"Look at them Minion, they're _hopeless!" _Megamind burst out in irritation.

"Sir, I don't think there's any way we're getting in there this way; there are too many of them."

"Oh, who cares about them. If I wanted to I could march right up to that door and walk right in, and they'd be throwing down their guns and falling all over themselves to get out of my way. But you're right, I do think we need to use a less conspicuous point of entry. Storming in through the front door would just draw the attention of those i_nsignificant_ hooligans to the fact that we're here before we even get inside, and I don't want to risk that."

"Ok then; what should we do?"

"Don't you remember how many times we've robbed this bank? Think back to that little side door in the alley, the one that's practically hidden from the outside. I doubt the cops would even think to watch that door; not even after all the times we've used it for our own purposes. Pffffft! Metrocity's finest… what a ridiculous statement!" Megamind snorted with contempt, thinking back to Metro Man's assertion that should anything happen while he was gone on vacation, the MCPD could handle it without trouble.

"I'm going to go ahead and hurry around to the alley… "

"Uhhhh, Sir… since you're already practically sitting on this side of the car anyway, I'm just going to _sliiiide_ my way over to the driver's seat and pull the car around to the alley myself." Minion said, already in the process of scooting over and causing Megamind to lose his balance a bit and tumble face first on the bench seat, earning him a scathing glare from his best friend. The thought of Megamind driving even another foot in the agitated state that he was in at the moment sent a shudder through the fish's little body. _We've made it alive this far, I don't want to tempt fate any more now that we're here._

As Minion carefully maneuvered the car around the maze of squad cars that were strewn across the street, Megamind's anxiety continued to increase by the second. He was so close to her now and knowing that for the sake of her safety, prudence dictated he wait just a little bit longer to storm in there and pluck her from the clutches of the criminals that held her was killing him.

Not knowing if she was alright, and the memory of those last moments of her sneaky broadcast when he could hear her crying out at the hands of her captors was more than he could bear. It was all he could do to keep himself from bursting from the car with the De-Gun set to destroy and blasting his way inside here and now; and the slow, careful pace in which Minion was traversing the busy street was making it infinitely worse.

"Minion! What are you _doing_; will you hurry up?"

"I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances! I know you wouldn't want me to run into one of these squad cars and get everyone's attention while we're on our way over there, and bang up _our_ car in the process." Minion retorted, incredibly thankful that he had forced his way to the driver's side before Megamind had a chance to situate himself behind the wheel again.

In the midst of working his way carefully through the street that had been transformed into a veritable parking lot, Minion cast concerned glances at his friend as he sat in the passenger seat, barely able to contain his anxiety.

Megamind's eyes were glued to the front of the building almost the whole time; looking away only for a moment here and there to impatiently check their progress toward the alley or to look down at his De-Gun, making sure it was set and ready to go when the time came. His breathing was rapid and his hands anxiously clutched at the door panel; he was ready to burst out of the car the second they rolled into that alley.

The expression on his blue face continued to change… one moment he looked worried to the point of panic, the next he would assume a look of such ferocious rage that anyone who saw him would turn tail and run for their lives; it even made Minion feel uncomfortable to be sitting so close to him when he saw that look.

"Sir, I just can't help but notice that you seem to be more than a little … on edge about all of this. What exactly is going on with you?"

Megamind glanced back at his friend for a moment, the expression on his face now looking like someone who had been caught in an incredibly embarrassing situation, and trying desperately to think their way out of it.

"What do you mean? I already told you, they're invading my turf and taking liberties with the victim I've already laid claim on… they need to be put in their place. Being the city's most terrifying villain comes with certain responsibilities. I'm not about to just let them waltz in here and do whatever they like without suffering the horrifying consequences for their presumptuous mistakes."

Minion looked suspiciously at his boss, eyes narrowed as he scrutinized both the excuse he had just been given, and the erratic behavior his friend was exhibiting "I don't know, it just seems to me that there's something else… "

"Silence Minion! I don't want to talk about this anymore. Just keep driving!" _Wow, that was close._

When Minion heard his boss' irate command for silence, he snapped his fang filled mouth shut in an instant with an audible click. It was best to just shut up and play along when Megamind got into one of his moods, and he was more pissed right now than the fish had ever seen him. With one last skeptical look at the livid blue villain, he turned his eyes back toward the road and continued on around the corner to the alley, which was indeed empty and free of cops, just as Megamind had predicted.

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><p>Roxanne sat in her chair, watching the robbers and listening as they argued about how to go about getting out of the situation they found themselves in. From the inside it looked to them like the building was surrounded by cops, and so many of them it seemed that there was more than half of the entire police force camped outside. The easy getaway they had planned so carefully for now seemed next to impossible.<p>

As the criminals bickered, the bank manager continued to reluctantly relieve the bank of all its assets, spurred on by the _not so _gentle encouragement of the thugs. Roxanne's eyes alternated between observing the heated discussion between their captors, and watching the poor old gentleman with increasing concern.

As he worked at emptying the safe he moved slowly, stopping to rest from time to time and leaning against the side of the huge metal door. His breathing was labored and his face had continued to grow more and more pale as the ordeal went on. It was blatantly obvious that he was in distress, and Roxanne feared that he might be on his way to a serious problem, possibly even a heart attack if he wasn't given medical help soon.

Every time the thieves noticed the grandfatherly man lingering to try and catch his breath, one of them would charge forward and roughly propel him in the general direction they wanted him to go without any thought of mercy, while the others stood back enjoying the show. After watching this _again_ for the third time since she had been captured no more than ten minutes before, the same anger that had sparked so hotly earlier began to rage once again.

Something inside her snapped, and despite Kent's warning, she couldn't keep quiet any longer, although she decided to choose her words a little more carefully this time. She hoped that in attempting to reason with the thugs, she might be able to convince them to allow the manager to go so he could receive the medical attention he needed, or at the very least let him off the hook, allowing him to sit down quietly and rest.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you see he can't do it? Look at him! He needs _help_."

"Oh he can do it, he just needs a little more motivation, right grandpa?" mocked Kent, punctuating his assertion by walking up behind him and giving him a good hard shove, sending the manager stumbling forward, crying out and grasping desperately at the wall of safety deposit boxes inside the safe to keep himself from falling.

Biting back the scorching insults that threatened to choke her if she didn't let loose in another burst of searing curses, she took a deep breath, and with as much self control as she could possibly muster she attempted once again to persuade Kent to leave the poor fellow alone.

"Listen, why don't you just let him sit down and rest. Let me up and I'll finish up what he's doing. I can unload the vault for you and… "

"I distinctly remember telling you to shut up, beautiful. So why am I hearing your voice again? Do you _want _me to kill you?" he said as he glared at her coldly, his stare sending frightening chills down her spine.

"No, you don't underst… "

"Shut _UP_!" he burst out as he pointed his gun directly in her face, his voice so explosively ferocious, it made her jump.

Just then, the progressively weakening state that the old man was in finally proved to be too much for him, and with a loud thud he collapsed to his knees inside the safe. Roxanne watched in horror as Eric stormed over to him and began assailing him with kicks and insults in an attempt to bring him back to his feet to finish the task they had given him. Despite the abuse he was receiving, the gentleman was completely spent, and kneeled unmoving on the floor, bent double and shielding his face as best he could from the blows.

"No! _Stop_ it! Leave him alone! Please, just let me do it for him; you're not going to get him to do any more by beating the hell out of him… "

Before she could finish her plea, Kent's hand shot out and grabbed hold of her face, turning it so she was looking directly in his eyes. His grasp was like iron, and his fingers ground brutally and painfully into the swollen bruise that continued to develop on her cheek.

With a frighteningly cruel glare, his eyes searched hers for a moment. He continued to hold her worried gaze, probing her blue eyes hatefully as if the answer to a difficult decision he was trying to make could be found there. As she watched him, she suddenly recognized the light of an idea begin to glimmer coldly in his expression, and a truly wicked smirk slowly spread across his lips.

Without allowing his eyes to leave hers for a moment, he called out to his associate, "Eric, escort grandpa over there to sit with the others."

In an instant, the thug did as he was instructed, and viciously hauled the elderly man to his feet just as he had done with Roxanne a short time ago. As the manager was far too exhausted to walk on his own, the ruffian drug him across the lobby of the bank, tossing him like a sack of dirty laundry in a heap next to the other hostages. In surprisingly short order, Eric had his wrists and ankles zip tied, and left him with his fellow captives without a second thought for the delicate state of his health.

"Now get over there and untie the security guard, and make sure he finishes up where grandpa left off." Kent commanded as he continued to glare at Roxanne, nodding his head in the general direction that the guard was tied.

Just at that moment, the bank's business phone rang, startling several of the hostages in the moment of tension.

"That'll be the cops." Kent stated matter of factly, finally looking away from Roxanne, but not loosening the painful hold of her face that was now beginning to bring tears to her eyes despite her utmost attempts to hold them back.

"I'll get it." Dave said as he began to cross the lobby from the window to the nearest desk so he could answer the phone.

"No you won't. Eric, you answer it and deal with the cops, you know the usual routine and demands. Do it right and no mistakes. Dave will take over for you there."

"What? Why… "

"Because you're an idiot! Now get over there before I shoot _you_ along with my first and very lovely victim of the day." Kent stated plainly as he turned back to observe Roxanne's reaction to his assertion that she wouldn't be making it out of this situation in one piece.

Despite the rising fear that was now trying desperately to take over her thoughts, she refused to allow herself to do anything other than stay calm and strong. If this guy was going to fulfill his terrifying promise, she was going to do her best to go out with dignity, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her as the weak victim.

"But before I do that, gorgeous… I'm gonna have a little fun. It's a shame to let a pretty girl like you die without sampling some of what you have to offer first." He said, his voice dripping sickeningly with perverse desire. As he spoke, his eyes once again began to travel down her body, resting on her breasts that sat partially and embarrassingly exposed beneath the cotton blouse that had been damaged earlier when she had been caught.

"You can't do that; don't you have any idea who she is?" a weak voice blurted out from amongst the huddle of uncomfortably tied and frightened hostages.

His concentration broken, Kent roughly let go of Roxanne's face and turned toward the group of captives, a look of surprised confusion on his face that anyone would even consider talking back to him at this point in the game.

To the shock of both Roxanne and the criminal bent on abusing her, the person speaking to him was none other than the bank manager, who had been observing the goings on since he was zip tied and left with the group of other captives. Despite the fact that he had been mercilessly pummeled by the thugs from the first moment they secured the bank and his increasing exhaustion and stress, he had noticed the way Roxanne had bravely come to his defense, offering to take his place rather than seeing him suffer.

His heart had been touched by this act of self sacrifice, and he wasn't about to just sit there and watch her be abused and possibly killed in cold blood right in front of him without doing anything he could to help her. What he could do may not be much right now, but at least it was something, even if all it did was buy her a little time until Metro Man showed up. Besides, he had a daughter about her same age…

"What are you talking about?" Kent questioned sharply, a dangerous glint in his eye.

"Don't you ever watch the news? She's Roxanne Ritchi… Metro City's top reporter?"

The manager's query was greeted with blank stares from the two criminals closest to him, obviously at a loss as to who this supposedly famous woman might be.

"She's Metro Man's girlfriend! Aren't you from around here? Everyone within at least a hundred mile radius; everyone in the whole _state_ knows who _he_ is. If you know what's good for you you'll… "

The elderly man was suddenly interrupted by Dave, who had been standing next to the huddle, listening intently.

"No, we're not from around here; we're just passing through on our way from our last… "

"Be _quiet_ you moron! Shut him down, _NOW_… permanently!" Kent thundered.

With that, he swung around and reached out again, this time grabbing Roxanne's hair painfully at the roots, and roughly pulling her head back to look at him.

"I'm going to enjoy this." he ground out, and with the other hand he reached out to yank open the remaining buttons on her blouse.

As she sat there, squeezing her eyes shut and preparing for the worst, she continued to busily brainstorm ways that she could talk her way out of this, and the other hostages with her. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized the only glimmer of a chance she could see any of them having was the possibility of a miracle. _Maybe Wayne will actually cut his vacation short and show up after all._

But as she tried to allow her thoughts to focus on this hope, it wasn't Wayne's face she kept seeing in her mind. It was a very handsome face, long and slightly angular, but with just the right amount of softness around the edges to make him look strong and irresistible. His lovely blue skin so starkly contrasted by his dark goatee and those incredibly green eyes; eyes that were more deep and expressive and _beautiful_ than any that she had ever seen, and that hid behind them a spark of kindness that for some reason he tried so hard to hide under the guise of being evil.

Considering she was tied to a chair and at a loss as far as her ability to defend herself, she would take Wayne or anyone else who might show up to help her right now, and the other captives with her. But the only man she really wanted to see right now was Megamind, and when she realized this, despite her strength and resilience in almost every situation she had ever found herself in, she had to fight to choke back a flood of tears. He wasn't going to come, she knew that despite her previous hopes that he may just show up. He was the villain; villains _don't_ rescue the girl.

In the midst of her swirling thoughts, she felt the thug grasping at her blouse, yanking until the next two buttons gave way and fell with a tiny clatter to the floor.

Her eyes popped open, and with as much venom as she could gather, she spat out, "Get your hands _OFF_ me you _bastard_!"

As all these things had been happening, in the back of her mind she had begun to notice a strange noise; an odd sort of sound that blended unnoticed at first with the background noise in the room. When it started it was so quiet, her ears barely registered the frequency, but as the seconds ticked by and her situation became more and more precarious, the strangely electrical, buzzing, crackling sound began to grow louder until it was no longer like white noise in the background, but loud enough to begin to draw the attention of the criminals and hostages alike.

Suddenly, the bank's rear emergency door began to shake on it's hinges, stopping Kent in the act of his assault on Roxanne for a moment and directing his gaze toward the source of the disturbance, along with every other person in the room. As all eyes watched, a crackle of electricity seemed to surge through the door and under the jam, blue bolts of what looked like tiny lightening popping and dancing across the surface of the metal and causing the door to shake even more furiously, increasing the buzzing noise to an incredibly uncomfortable level. Little wisps of smoke began to curl through the cracks at it's sides, and suddenly the heavy security door literally burst from it's hinges with a thundering bang that rattled the whole building, sending it skidding across the marble of the lobby floor, bent and smoldering as it came to rest mere feet from where Roxanne was tied to her chair.

At first, it was impossible to see beyond the cloud of smoke that came billowing into the room, and the reporter strained her eyes in shock as she attempted to see through the thick haze that continued to pour through the opening, hope rising in her heart as she waited. Within moments, the bulk of the cloud had passed, allowing Roxanne, the other hostages, and her shocked captors their first glimpse at the culprit behind the miniature explosion.

A slender form stepped through the cloud of smoke, clutching in his hand a strangely shaped gun, the barrel of which glowed with a blue brilliance. He was draped in a long cape with a high collar, that swirled around the mysterious intruder's boot clad feet. Being backlit from the light in the alley that streamed through the smoke into the darkened lobby, he appeared dark and shadowy, hiding every feature from the view of the onlookers.

Despite the dark and hazy conditions hiding the details and features of this newcomer, Roxanne had no doubt in her mind who this was. Her heart leapt with the realization that he was here; the one man she wanted more than any other in the world right now had come for her.

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><p><strong>Now like I said, the end of the story will be coming within the week... rescue, fluff, and all. This time I <strong>_**REALLY**_** promise! LOL! Hope you'll hang on to see how it all wraps up!**

**Thank you **_**so**_** much for reading, and hopefully enjoying. Remember, I'm the type who loves reviews, I get lonely without them. I just need to know someone out there is enjoying all the work and love that goes into creating these stories, so please take a minute to let me know what you think. I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the feedback, it really does make my day!**

**Thanks again! **


	5. Chapter 5

_**Whoohoo! **_**Finally we're at the end of this story. YAY! The rescue I promised and teasingly put off for so long is here at last, now you can breathe a sigh of relief. Hope it lives up to your hopes! **

**Aaaaaand, of course, we've also come to that **_**generous**_** sprinkling of fluffiness that I said was coming. YAY! As one of my very kind and oh- so -intelligent reviewers said, "Fan girls live off it… ". All I have to say to that is **_**OH **__**yeah**_** they do!**

**Now just a quick note… in the beginning of this chapter, we backtrack just a bit to tell some of the unfolding situation from Megamind's perspective. I thought it was important to explore it from his point of view.**

**One other thing, I have to say **_**thank you **_**to my beta, Nora, for working so hard to polish my stories up for me, and helping to make them fit to read (I must sheepishly admit that my spelling can be atrocious at times). But most of all for being such a dear friend, and for being so incredibly wonderful in every way! Thanks sweetie! Love ya! **

**I just have to say, of course, that I don't own Megamind or any of the wonderful characters. I profit nothing from my stories except lots and lots of fun. ;)**

**Ok, go ahead and read. Hope you enjoy!**

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><p>The second the invisible car rounded the corner and was out of the line of sight of the horde of cops that were milling around in front of the bank and along the street, Megamind threw the door open and was off like a shot with De-gun at the ready, not even waiting for Minion to pull the car to a stop. He left the stunned fish alone in the car, his fang filled mouth gaping open as he watched his boss go.<p>

Megamind's first instinct had been to rip the thugs apart with his bare hands, and as he tore through the alley to the door, he was enjoying the mental image of his fist smacking satisfyingly into the face of one of the hoodlums. Hmmm, how much damage should he do… a bloody nose? No, at the _very_ least it had to be broken. Definitely a couple of severely blackened eyes, and toss in a broken arm to go along with that broken nose; oh make it two, why not? In fact, to do this right, he should just go ahead and make sure they all ended up spending at least the next few weeks in traction…

But as he approached the security door, his incredibly sharp alien ears began to pick up on voices coming from inside. At first they were just a murmur of distressed sounds, but the closer he came to his goal, the indistinct noises began to gain clarity, and when he finally stood on the threshold outside the door, he could hear clearly every word that was being said inside the bank, and he waited quietly for a moment as he listened to an alarming situation beginning to unfold.

The first voice he heard clearly had a weak tone, and sounded like it belonged to an older man; "She's Metro Man's girlfriend! Aren't you from around here? Everyone within at _least_ a hundred mile radius; everyone in the whole _state_ knows who _he_ is. If you know what's good for you you'll… "

He was interrupted by another man, presumably one of the criminals, who said, "No, we're not from around here; we're just passing through on our way from our last… ". _Wow, what an idiot._

Suddenly, from another location in the room, a different voice broke in, obviously seething in anger at the ridiculous slip of his counterpart, "Be _quiet_ you moron! Shut him down, _NOW_… permanently!" _This is getting out of control. Oh God, where's Roxanne?_

Megamindrealized with some disappointment that despite his fantasies of tearing the limbs off the thugs that dared to capture his precious victim, things had progressed to such a precarious state inside the building that it wouldn't be prudent to take his time and leisurely make their lives a living hell. For Roxanne's safety, he needed to get in there and take them down as quickly and efficiently as possible.

After checking one last time to make sure his De-gun was set to destroy, he aimed and fired the beam at the sturdy metal security door, watching as the metal began to pock and warp, and tiny tracers of lightning-like energy laced its way around the only thing that stood between himself, and the one woman he cared about more than anything else in the world.

As he trained the beam on the rapidly weakening door, he continued to listen to the situation inside, hoping to catch a hint of the condition and whereabouts of the reporter. Straining his ears to listen past the buzzing crackle of the gun and groaning of the protesting metal, he again heard the angry voice say in a sickeningly perverse tone, "I'm going to enjoy this."

When he heard that, his heart leapt into his throat. After having spent most of his life in prison around some of the lowest scum imaginable, he had seen and heard enough to have a strong suspicion of what the criminal was talking about, and the implications of this made his blood run cold.

Finally, the security door had taken as much abuse as it could handle, and with a bang that shook the building to its foundation, it burst from its hinges and blasted its way inside, filling the opening that was left behind with an acrid smelling smoke. The moment before the door shuddered for the last time and gave way, he heard the voice he had been longing to hear since this whole ordeal began, but the words she uttered nearly stopped his heart, "Get your hands _OFF_ me you _bastard_!"

A cold panic gripped the villain as he quickly stepped through the roiling cloud of smoke into the darkened lobby. When his eyes adjusted to the dimness of the room he began to scan the area for the thugs, and searched for Roxanne among the huddle of frightened looking hostages that were grouped together in the middle of the lobby so as to make sure that she wouldn't be injured in the slightest when all hell broke loose.

Directly in front of him stood a tall, lanky man with limp hair and shabby clothes. He stood above the huddle of hostages, his gun drawn and pointing in the direction of a very tired and frightened looking old man, but his shocked attention was focused on the security door and the ruckus that had just interrupted him in the midst of his dark task.

Across the lobby at a desk, a second man, obviously another thug, was frozen with the phone to his ear, his eyes wide in shock at the strange visitor that had burst in through the emergency door that no one seemed to have even noticed.

In a split second, Megamind adjusted the setting on his De-gun and fired, reducing them both to blue cubes that fell to the floor with a clatter and lay glowing with a strangely pulsing light. The instant their cubes hit the floor, his eyes frantically combed the remainder of the room and studied more closely the face of each terrified captive as he searched for Roxanne.

In the shadowy confines of the darkened space, he was at first unable to find her, and his heart raced with anxiety faster every second that passed by without seeing her. After a few agonizing moments, he finally saw two figures far across the room, one sitting in a chair, and one standing nearby, grasping the captive's hair with one hand, and with other he seemed to be pulling at something… _NO!_

A white hot surge of anger like he had _never_ known suddenly coursed through him when he realized what he was seeing. The person sitting in the chair was Roxanne, and the one standing there next to her was one of the detestable criminals, who in his astonishment at the sight of this _blue_ man that just blasted his way inside the bank, had frozen with his hand still gripping onto the front of her shirt in the act of pulling at it with the intent of tearing it away from her.

Something inside him snapped, and without regard for his own safety he surged forward, crossing the lobby in mere seconds, placing his gun back in it's holster as he went.

"Don't you _TOUCH_ her!" he raged ferociously to the frightened criminal who, in his horrified astonishment at seeing a blue _alien_ closing in on him with murder in his glowing green eyes, let go of Roxanne and began to stumble away with his hands in the air, his expression filled with terror.

When the blue villain approached, he drew back a gloved arm and with all his strength threw his fist forward, hitting the stunned thug with a sickening thud square on the cheekbone. As the hooligan reeled, Megamind quickly followed through with the other fist beneath his chin, relishing in the sound of his teeth loudly clacking together at the incredible force of the blow, and causing the thug to stagger back across the room.

Moments after the first series of poundings, the man was down for the count. He collapsed to the floor near the emergency exit with a crash, but despite this, Megamind wasn't through with him. With the fluid motion of a predator moving in for the kill, he descended on the criminal, pinning him to the ground with a knee to the chest and began pummeling him with blow after crushing blow to the face and head.

He would have happily continued on all day with this pleasant activity of venting his hatred with his fists for the man who dared to even _think_ about touching his Miss Ritchi, but he was pulled from his absorbing task by a lovely voice.

"Megamind?" she called out softly, and this time rather than sounding frightened and outraged, her voice was a mixture of relief and concern, a bit shaky from the stress and fear of the situation she had just been through.

At the sound of her calling his name, he was instantly snapped out of his trance-like mindset of _re-vange_. He stood and turned to her, leaving the unconscious man in a broken, bloodied heap, and crossing the room again to kneel down in front of her, he gazed into the blue eyes he was so afraid he might never see again.

"You came for me." she said, her voice close to a whisper as she searched his face and took in every detail of the man she had been hoping beyond hope to see.

"Of course I did. Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" he asked, but just as the words left his lips, his eyes settled on the swollen bruise that marred her once smooth, pink cheek.

Megamind felt as though he himself had been struck when he caught sight of the wicked looking wound. His brows furrowed deeply and his eyes narrowed as he reached up to place his hand gently to the side of her injured cheek, and despite his gentleness, she winced when he touched her.

Seeing her pain reignited the still smoldering fire of hatred in his black heart, and in a single movement he stood and spun on his heel as he drew his De-gun and changed it's setting from dehydrate back to destroy. Springing forward, he brought the gun up and leveled it at the form laying motionless on the floor and began to press his finger to the trigger.

"Megamind, wait! No… you don't have to do that, I'm ok." Roxanne intervened, shocked at the strength of his reaction to her situation.

He turned his head to look at her, but kept his gun trained on the thug as he did so. "Why not?"

"You may be a villain, but you're not really evil. Not enough to kill someone in cold blood; you're better than that."

Her words took him by surprise, and lowering his gun, he turned to her and asked, "Why in the world would you say that? Of _course _I'm e-vil. What about all the times I've kidnapped you, and tried to kill Metro Mahn?"

"Killing him in cold blood like that would make you no better than _he_ is; that's what he was going to do to me if you hadn't come when you did."

His heart was wrenched at the thought of her being harmed by anyone, and the matter of fact way she spoke of the criminal's plans for her if he had come too late froze his blood. Hearing her compare the actions of this despicable man with his desire to kill him for trying to harm her was more than her could bear; no matter how e-vil he might be, he _never_ wanted Roxanne to think of him in that way.

With a sigh he strapped his De-gun to his thigh and walked back over to the reporter who was surprisingly still sitting in her chair and looking incredibly uncomfortable. In the dimness of the room and his preoccupation with pummeling her attacker, he had missed several important details about her situation when he had first come to see if she was alright. One of those facts was that she was tied to the chair, the other was that her shirt had been pulled so hard by the thugs in the process of her abuse, several of her buttons had popped off, and she sat rather embarrassingly exposed.

Now to Megamind, being tied to a chair was not necessarily a problem in and of itself, after all, he routinely did this during her kidnappings with great success. It was a method he swore by. But he was horrified to find that rather than being gently tied with a soft and flexible nylon rope like the one he used, her hands had been bound cruelly with plastic zip ties.

"Just a minute Roxanne, I'll get you out of this," he said, his voice thick with concern for her.

Fighting back another urge to turn and blast her abuser to a charred, smoldering pile of ashes, he tore off his gloves to allow for more dexterity, and drew out a pocket knife that he kept tucked along with a multitude of other multi purpose tools in the pockets that Minion had so cleverly hidden on his belt. Withdrawing the small blade, he knelt down again and carefully began cutting through the plastic straps that held her. He started with her ankles and then moved to her wrists, making sure not to nick her skin as he did so.

Leaning in this close to her as he worked at the plastic ties, Megamind struggled with a mixture of longing and incredible embarrassment, as the process required that his face hover uncomfortably… _tantalizingly_ close to those perfect breasts that he had caught himself imagining many times. His blood boiled at the thought of what she had gone through, and he wanted now more than ever to blast the psychotic pervert to a crisp.

The second the last of the zip ties fell away, his train of thought was pleasantly and shockingly interrupted when she threw her arms around him, burying her face in his warm neck, clinging to him tightly.

"Thank you." she murmured, her voice trembling as she fought to keep control over her emotions.

It took a moment for the reality to sink in that the woman he had been in love with for years was holding him the way he had sappily daydreamed about countless times. But when it did, he wrapped his arms around her protectively and held her, burying his face in her hair and taking in every detail of the way she felt against him, committing her to memory so he could replay this moment in his heart another day. This was a once in a lifetime moment, and he'd be damned if he was about to let it go to waste.

When she felt him embrace her in return, all the stress and fear of the past several hours suddenly let loose, and despite her attempts to hold it back, tears began to flow. Not a dam breaking flood of tears but a soft, slow release of pent up emotion. She knew this wasn't like her at all, she had _never_ been the weepy type, and she also knew that later when this was all over and she had to face him again at her next kidnapping, she would be horribly embarrassed at showing weakness in front of him like this, but right now, she didn't care.

This had been the worst situation she had ever gone through, and that was saying a lot for someone who endured weekly kidnappings and seemingly life threatening situations at the hands of Metro City's most feared villain. But this had been different. She had always known that Megamind wouldn't hurt her, and had suspected deep down that he actually cared about her as much as she reluctantly had to admit to herself that she cared about him. These guys, however, were _truly_ evil to the core, and they had no qualms whatsoever about taking her life.

Being held right now by the man she knew deep down that she had feelings for and thought she would never see again crumbled the last vestiges of will power she had been holding onto to stay strong, obstinate, and courageous to the end. Rather than fight it, she decided to just _let_ the tears flow for a moment. Besides, his arms wrapped around her like that felt so good; she had imagined him holding her many times. Not knowing if a moment like this would ever come again, she wasn't ready to let him go just yet…

As he held her, he heard her sniff softly, and could feel the wetness of tears as they spilled onto his neck. His heart ached for her, and he wished he could have arrived sooner to save her from so much more of what she had endured that day. She was so strong; the strongest and smartest person he knew, and despite all the things he had seen her go through in the years that they had known each other; all the things he himself had put her through, he had _never_ seen her cry like this.

"It's ok… you're ok now," he said softly as he continued to hold her soothingly until she was ready to pull away, running his fingers through her hair and breathing in her scent, his eyes closed as he savored every second of this fleeting moment.

Just then, Minion came running through the still smoky doorway in a panic, scanning the room for his best friend, and the spunky reporter they had come to rescue. "Sir? Are you ok? Oh my God, you shouldn't just go charging… "

When his worried eyes rested on the very people he had rushed in to find, locked in a longing embrace and holding each other as though they were the only two people in the world, he stopped mid sentence, his mouth once again hanging open and eyes wide with shock. He stood there watching, too stunned to say another word or tear his eyes away from the scene as it unfolded.

When Roxanne finally did pull back, she allowed her arms to remain wrapped around his shoulders to keep him close, being careful of the spikes that adorned his cape. She wasn't quite ready to be separated from him yet. She looked up at him and said, "Why? Why did you come? Villains don't _rescue_ the girl."

She thought she already knew the answer, but she wanted to gage his reaction, hoping that he would say or do something that would confirm her suspicions.

When he heard this, he smiled at her and said, "Oh, this wasn't a rescue. They simply made too many mistakes, and had to pay for their fatal lapse in judgment. You see, I've already laid claim on you as my _exclusive_ victim, and villains aren't very good at sharing. In case you didn't know, being my victim comes with certain perks, Roxanne. No one will _ever_ lay a hand on you as long as I'm around, I promise."

With that, he lifted his hand again to her cheek, wiping away the remaining tears that glistened on her lovely skin, being incredibly gentle so as not to hurt her when he came near the wicked looking bruise on the side of her face.

The feeling of his skin against her face made her heart flutter, and she looked deeply into the gloriously green eyes she had been longing to see, drinking him in. How could she ever believe that he was truly evil? She couldn't, not when he had shown her so many times in a thousand different tiny ways that he cared for her, and especially when he was as gentle with her as he was now, and looked at her like this…

Her train of thought was interrupted by a painful throbbing in her wrists and ankles as the blood began to flow freely again in the spots that the criminals had tied her so cruelly with the zip ties. Reluctantly, she broke his gaze and took her arms from his shoulders so she could inspect the damage.

When she pulled away and looked down, he followed her gaze, and was horrified to see deep bruises beginning to form on her wrists where the ties had bound her; the skin red, broken and bleeding in spots where the sharp plastic had cut into her. He bent down and moved the cuff of her jeans aside to reveal more of the same on her ankles, and his blood began to boil again.

"Oh my God, look what they did to you… those _savages_!" he ground out. Losing his personal battle to keep control of his temper and restrain himself from frying them alive with his De-gun, he stood and began to turn away from her, his hand on the butt of his gun, but as he did so, he felt her grab hold of his arm.

When he turned back to her, he saw her looking up at him worriedly, and she said, "Megamind, don't. Please. You've done more than enough for me already."

Something in the way she looked at him seemed to quell his need for vengeance, and though he was incredibly disappointed, he relaxed a bit. He wasn't about to blow the thugs sky high if she didn't want him to, he would do anything she asked… _anything_ for her.

As he looked down at her, he noticed once again that she was embarrassingly exposed, and a sudden and overwhelming surge of protectiveness overtook him. Seeing that it was nearly impossible for her to cover herself with her damaged shirt and having nothing else to give her, he unclasped his cape and threw it over her shoulders, bringing the folds of fabric forward to make sure she had enough to cover herself properly.

When she saw what he as doing, she smiled for the first time since her ordeal had begun, and with a tiny giggle she said, "Hey, for a villain you're being pretty heroic. You'd better watch out, you might wake up one of these mornings and find out that you've suddenly switched sides; become the good guy."

"I'm _not_ a hero, Roxanne." he said a trifle indignantly, though something deep in his heart stirred at the idea, especially when he thought he saw a tiny glimmer of hope hidden inside those beautiful blue eyes that smiled up at him.

At his response, her smile grew a bit wider, and she pulled his wrist, bringing him down level with her until he was kneeling in front of her, their faces close as they gazed at each other.

"You are today, Megamind." she whispered to him, and leaning forward, she placed a soft kiss on his lips, lingering for just a moment as she filled it with every ounce of the thankfulness and affection that was stirring so strongly in her heart.

It was such a tiny, innocent kiss, but so filled with emotion, it nearly knocked the blue villain off his feet. The electricity that crackled between them was staggering, and when they parted, they both sat for a moment, eyes still closed as they savored the memory of the way each other's lips felt against their own.

Just then, their private reflections were interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice. Minion had been watching the entire exchange, and was utterly shocked by their public display of affection toward one another. He had always suspected that there was more to the feelings that his boss had for his captive, but this? And Miss Ritchi too? And in front of all these people! How was this going to look for Sir's evil reputation when word got out that he was smooching up a storm with his victim?

"Uhhh, Sir? I hate to interrupt, but… " Minion began, and when Megamind turned to look at him, the fish flicked his eyes in the direction of the huddle of curious captives, who seemed just as shocked as Minion was to see their favorite reporter _kissing_ the villain that terrorized both her and the city as a whole on a weekly basis.

Suddenly, it dawned on Megamind just how this must look to the onlookers. He deeply regretted pulling away from Roxanne, but a villain's job was never done. He stood in an instant and in a sharp voice commanded, "Minion! The forget me stick! And when you're done, attend to Miss Ritchi with the rope."

"You got it, Sir." Minion responded, immediately producing the stick and approaching the crowd of increasingly nervous hostages.

As Minion attended to the first part of his task, Megamind turned back to Roxanne and said in a voice that bespoke his usual evil persona, "Heroic, you say? Well, just in case you happen to entertain thoughts that I suffer from _heroic_ tendencies, this little demonstration is to remind you that I'm _truly _e-vil to the core."

With that, he marched across the lobby with De-gun set to dehydrate, and shot the mounded pile of money, reducing it to a glowing blue cube that matched the two belonging to the thugs that still lay on the floor where they fell.

Megamind picked up the treasure between his thumb and forefinger, and theatrically he turned on his heel, crossing the lobby once again just as Minion was beginning to tie the soft rope around Roxanne's wrists and waist, making sure of course to be as gentle as he could so as not to aggravate her wounds.

"You see this?" he said with a purr, his green eyes lidded as he leaned in and held the cube up for her inspection. "This is proof _positive_ that I have nary a heroic bone in my body. Ponder this, Miss Ritchi, lest you forget."

Before he turned to go, the two gazed deeply into each other's eyes one more time, a silent exchange that was not lost on Minion as he uncomfortably stood and waited for his boss to leave. _Oh God, this has got to be one of the weirdest days of my life._

Finally, Megamind turned and stalked away, leaving Roxanne loosely tied to the chair, knowing that within seconds she would be released by the cops whom he could see had at last found their nerve, and stood outside the door, preparing to break their way inside_._

"Farewell Miss Ritchi. We'll meet again soon, _much_ to your misfortune." He called out, and when he did he glanced back at her one more time to see her watching him go, looking at him with that familiar and irresistibly crooked smirk.

"Yeah…" she called back, "in two weeks, as soon as Wayne gets back. _Don't_ be late!"

Megamind chuckled and answered, "Oh, no fear of that, my dear."

As he approached the door, he looked down to see the detestable criminal that had abused Roxanne so harshly beginning to stir awake again, rolling around on the floor and groaning in the pain of the severe bruises and broken bones that were his reward for laying hands on another villain's victim.

Anger again welled up inside the blue man's chest, and as he passed by, he gave the bloodied thug a sharp kick in the side of the head, knocking him out cold once again, and producing a quiet giggle from Roxanne, who couldn't hold it back despite herself.

As Megamind stepped through the exit into the brightness of the alley and approached the car, he was amazed at how good he felt… better than he had in, oh… what, two weeks? He had pummeled the thug that hurt Roxanne to a pulp, gotten to see the girl of his dreams again _and_ been _kissed_ by her, gazed into her beautiful blue eyes without being interrupted by Mr. Goody Two Shoes, and he had even made her laugh… _twice_; one of the most beautiful sounds in the world.

This time, when he got into the car, he didn't even bother to get in on the driver's side, he wanted to just sit and think about everything that had happened.

Minion sat in the driver's seat for a moment and observed his boss as he sat there with the sappiest smile on his face he had ever seen, his green eyes vacantly staring straight ahead at nothing as he obviously replayed the final moments with Roxanne in his mind. Finally, with a roll of his brown eyes and a shake of his body inside his dome, he huffed and turned toward the road to drive back to the lair.

As he did so, he noticed out of the corner of his eye a streak descending from the sky, heading straight for the bank. _Oh, darn it!_

"Sir… Metro Man approaching. Looks like it's too late for his welcome home present." Minion said sulkily with a pout.

"Huh? Oh! No, Minion, it's never too late… all this does is postpone it a bit. Actually, this is perfect; now we can get back to routine; resume the kidnappings... pick things up where we left off. You know, the Death Ray is so close to being ready, all we need is a decoy plot to buy us a little time and throw him off track, lull him into a false sense of security while we finish the awesome weapon that's sure to be his demise!

"I was thinking something that incorporates all of my best schemes, you know, sort of a recap of my greatest hits, so to speak. Yes… that would be the perfect segue! A fitting send off to Metrocity's beloved hero, and glorious welcome for their new Overlord… "

As Megamind went on, Minion could see all of his friend's old manic excitement returning, and he felt a sense of relief that things seemed to be about to return to normal, permanently… he _hoped_. Still, the little fish couldn't help but wonder about Miss Ritchi and the scene he had just witnessed. Now what could that possible mean for them in the weeks ahead?

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><p>As Roxanne watched her unlikely blue hero go, she smiled at the memory of his gentleness and the way he showed so much concern for her. She should never have doubted him and should have known that he would come for her. She would never doubt that he would come for her again, no matter what. After all, he did just promise that as long as he was around, he'd never let anyone harm her.<p>

Her thoughts began to stray to his assertion that he would be back for her in two weeks; as soon as Wayne came home. At the thought of waiting so long, she began to get a bit peeved at the great big brawny hero for making her wait so long… _Oh, God; two more weeks!_

Just as these thoughts were running through her mind, there was a loud crash from the roof above her, and to her complete shock, the Hero in White himself was standing in front of her, poised in his gleaming suit and perfect hair, ready to come to her aid.

"Don't worry Roxie, I'm here! Where are they?" he announced theatrically, his voice rife with ego.

Roxanne rolled her eyes at his 'prompt' entrance. _Oh nice, he even stopped at home to change his clothes and fix his hair before heading over here to save me._

"Yeah, well you're late. You missed the whole thing." she responded, her voice thick with the sassiness that she usually reserved for Megamind.

He was slightly startled by her tone, and when he turned to look at her, he was nearly floored by what he saw. She sat loosely tied to her chair… loose wasn't even the right word, this was almost a _joke_… why did the culprit even bother? And why was she wearing Megamind's cape?

He began to look around, taking in the scene with ever increasing confusion; bruises on Roxanne's cheek and wrists, the bank vaults empty, a group of random citizens unconscious on the floor, two glowing blue cubes, and a thug he had never seen before, beaten to within an inch of his life… not to mention the rather smitten look that she had on her face when he first broke through the ceiling that was immediately replaced with an irate glare when she saw him arrive to help her. Not exactly the welcome he had been expecting.

"What's going on here?" He asked, dropping his striking rescue pose and standing there with a perplexed look on his face and his hands in the air.

"Nothing."

"Did Megamind do this?" he pressed further, motioning to the whole of the room and the mess it contained.

"No."

"But he was here."

"Yeah,"

"Roxanne, will you just fill me in on what the heck is going on? I'm feeling pretty out of the loop here."

"Guess that's what happens when you decide to go on vacation and put everyone else's lives on hold." she shot at him acerbically, giving him a scathing glare for good measure.

"Ok, well… will you at least tell me why you're wearing his cape?"

She sat there watching him growing more uncomfortable as he pondered the possibilities. _Oh, now this is fun. _"Because, I'm not decent underneath."

"Come again?"

"I'm_ not… properly… clothed_! Exposed, you know? Practically _naked_." she said, punctuating that last word with a suggestive whisper. Of course, this was a bit of a stretch, but he deserved it. She had to hold back a laugh at the look of shock that passed through his eyes.

"So you're not properly clothed, and you're wearing his cape? You want to explain that one to me, Roxie?"

"No. Come on, let's go let the cops in, they seem to be having a hard time figuring out how to get through the lock on the door." And with that, she stood up, clutching the cape close to her, and stepped out of the ropes that had been 'tied' around her, and walked away as they dropped to the floor.

As she turned her back on the dumbfounded hero and headed for the door to let the cops in, she giggled quietly to herself, trying as hard as she could not to let him see or hear. Oh, she'd tell him what really happened later when she was good and ready, at least part of it. Some of the things that took place she'd keep to herself, pulling the memory out from time to time, hoping that some day she may have another chance to kiss those blue lips; maybe many more chances…

For now though, she was too mad at Wayne to tell him anything, and it was fun to watch him squirm as his mind wandered into some very awkward territory. She couldn't allow herself to stay mad for too long though, after all, he did end up coming back early, despite his declaration that _nothing_ could drag him away from his vacation.

Now that he was back, she realized excitedly, she wouldn't have to wait those two weeks to see… _Oh, uh… I mean, now it's back to the same old grind, kidnapping after kidnapping. Hmmm, I wonder when he'll be showing up to get me? _

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><p><strong>There… done! This little story has come to it's end… thanks so much for hanging on to see how it turned out. I truly hope you liked it!<strong>

**In my author's notes at the very beginning of chapter one, I said that this story is **_**my**_** version of a prequel to the comic book prequel to the movie. (Does that sound confusing to you too? LOL!) It's called The Reign of Megamind, and it can be found on Megamind's official website. ****You should go check it out! It's worth the time; fun to read and oh so funny! (The equestranator? Heehee! You'll see! *wink*)**

**Now that this is done, I'll be focusing my energy back on Dangerous Secret. Sooo, if you were enjoying that one and thought I abandoned it, no worries! I just needed to get this one out of my system before I could continue. Now that this is done, it's game on! Hope to catch you all again there, with more reviews to make me smile! **

**Thank you so much for reading, you guys are all amazing! Please don't forget to give me a little love and leave me a kind review. They make me so happy and fuel my creativity so I can come up with more great stories to share with everyone!**


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